Didier Theys (born 19 October 1956) is a Belgian sports car driver. He is a two-time overall winner of the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

(1998 and 2002); a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring (1998); the Sports Racing Prototype driver champion of the Grand-American Road Racing Association (2002) and the winner of the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their a ...

(1987 in a factory BMW). He was also the polesitter (1996) and a podium finisher at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

(

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 1999). The podium finish in 1999 was a third overall in the factory Audi R8R with co-drivers

Emanuele Pirro Emanuele Pirro (born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion (19 ...

and

Frank Biela Frank Stanley Biela (born 2 August 1964 in Neuss) is a German auto racing driver, mainly competing in touring cars and sportscar racing. He has raced exclusively in cars manufactured by the Audi marque since 1990. Career Biela started his care ...

. Theys' first appearance at Le Mans was in 1982, while his last start in the world's most famous endurance sports car race came 20 years later in 2002.

Formula racing

Theys won the Belgium Karting championship in 1977. Later he competed in several feeder formulae: he won several Formula Ford championships in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the U.S. Bosch Super Vee championship in 1986; and the American Racing Series (now

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progra ...

) championship in 1987. He was also successful in the European Formula Three Championship and

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

in the 1980s. He finished third in the Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix in 1985. Theys competed in the CART Indy Car Series from 1987 to 1993 with 47 career starts, including the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

three times (1989, 1990 and 1993). He finished in the top ten 10 times in CART events, and his best career finish in that series was a third position in Miami in 1988.

IMSA

Theys ran the

IMSA GT Championship IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...

in 1995 on a Ferrari 333SP. He finished fourth in 1996, 11th in 1997 and 6th in the series' final season in 1998.

1998 season

Theys' 1998 victories at Daytona and Sebring came in the Kevin Doran-prepared MOMO Ferrari with co-drivers

Mauro Baldi Mauro Baldi (born 31 January 1954) is an Italian former Formula One and endurance driver who raced for the Arrows, Alfa Romeo and Spirit teams. He is one of only 9 drivers who won the Triple Crown in endurance racing. Biography Baldi started ...

Arie Luyendyk Arie Luijendijk (anglicised as Arie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Sp ...

and Giampiero Moretti. His 2002 Daytona victory came in the Doran Lista Dallara Judd with co-drivers Baldi,

Fredy Lienhard Fredy Lienhard, Sr. (born 14 September 1947 in Herisau) is a Swiss racing driver. In 1968 Lienhard founded Lista Racing and throughout the 1970s and 1980s he competed in Formula Vee and Formula Two. In 1993 and 1994 he moved to sports car raci ...

and Max Papis. His 1998 season was a record-setter, as in addition to winning Daytona and Sebring, Theys also won the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. He also finished second overall in the

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and was eventually taken control of by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating ...

that year, winning at Paul Ricard, France.

2000–2002 seasons

In addition to his

Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...

driver championship in 2002, Theys finished third in the driver point standings in that series in 2001 and was the runner-up in 2000. He had four victories in his championship 2002 season, and established the largest margin of victory in series history in winning the race at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec from the pole that year.

After 2002

Prior to retiring from pro racing in March 2009, Theys also competed in the Le Mans Series in Europe with Horag Racing from 2005 through 2008, winning the Monza 1,000 km race in the LMP2 category in 2007 and a similar event at the Nürburgring in 2005 in a Lola Judd. He finished his pro driving career in the Horag Racing-prepared Lista Office Porsche RS Spyder in the Le Mans Series' LMP2 division in 2008, finishing second in class at Spa and Silverstone, third at Monza and winning the Michelin Energy Challenge that season. Theys also drove a Maserati MC 12 for Doran Racing in the ALMS in 2007, an effort that stunned the GT1 class when it beat the factory Corvettes to win the pole at the

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...

that year.

Accomplishments

Upon his retirement from driving professionally, Theys had finished on the podium 61 times in sports car races all over the world, with 18 victories, 22 second-place finishes and 21 third-place finishes through the end of the 2008 season. He has the most professional victories of anyone in a Ferrari 333 SP with 10. He received the prestigious Driver of the Year Award in his native Belgium in 2002.

Post-retirement

Theys currently works as a racing driver coach and consultant. He is also the Driving Director o
DrivingXllence
an automotive event company that allows guests to experience the exhilaration and adrenaline of being behind the wheel of the world's newest and best Supercars.

Personal

Although he never gave up his Belgium citizenship, Theys resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., for many years, and still lives there. That municipality honored him with the keys to the city in honor of his GRAND-AM driver championship and second 24 Hours of Daytona victory. He is married to Florence Richardson.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

American open–wheel racing results

( key)

Formula Super Vee

PPG Indycar Series

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) :

References

Didier Theys' IndyCar statistics

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Theys, Didier 1956 births Living people People from Nivelles Belgian racing drivers Formula Ford drivers FIA European Formula 3 Championship drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indy Lights champions Indy Lights drivers SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers Formula Super Vee Champions 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Sportspeople from Walloon Brabant Team Joest drivers Oreca drivers KTR drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers Audi Sport drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers