RUMOR -- GUY SMITH TO ROCKETSPORTS

[Audi_A4]

[Rogue Leader]

:confused:

[devilmaster]

I assume its the same Guy Smith, who has pretty much driven anything he can get his hands on....

Here's his Bio from his Website:

Age: 28
Birthplace: Beverley, Yorkshire, UK
Lives: Beverley
Birthday: 12th September 1975
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 145lbs
Hobbies: Swimming, running, karate

Like many other top racing drivers, Guy Smith began his racing career in karts at the tender age of 12. From the start he showed tremendous natural ability, quickly notching up four championship titles and four runner-up titles, including the highly prestigious World Kart Championship of 1991.

His first car race came just 9 weeks after his 17th birthday. Following four very successful years in the lower formulae of Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall, the "Autosport Young Kartist" and "Autosport Young Driver of the Year" finalist graduated to the Formula Renault Sport Championship with Manor Motorsport.

Guy totally dominated the 1995 season, taking the championship title with no less than 9 race wins and 11 pole positions.

This performance was enough to prompt Williams F1 to invite Guy to test Damon Hill's Williams-Renault F1 car at Silverstone, where he quickly settled into producing some stunningly quick lap times.

Guy followed his Formula Renault success by winning his debut race in the 1996 British Formula 3 Championship with a flag-to-flag victory; an amazing feat by anybody’s standards especially as his team-mate was none other than a certain Juan Pablo Montoya and his team's engines were the unloved Mitsubishi units.

Guy finished sixth in the F3 championship that season and, after a partial season of Formula 3 the following year; he was invited to join Johansson Motorsport to contest the 1998 Indy Lights series in the USA.

Guy finished the season third overall after winning two races from pole position (Portland and Toronto) and was awarded CART's "Rookie of the Year" title.

For the following season, Guy joined the championship-winning Tasman Motorsport Team as teammate to Brazilian Airton Dare. Sadly the team was sold in the early part of the season to Forsythe Racing and this caused the team's engineering continuity to break down. The anticipated Championship-winning success was not forthcoming but a highlight of the year was achieving pole position at Laguna Seca, finishing on the podium at Portland and Chicago and subsequently being invited to test a Reynard ChampCar for Walker Motorsports.

The following season Guy decided on a change of career path and was one of three drivers invited to pilot the brand-new Reynard 2KQ-LM Sports Prototype of Johansson Matthews Racing, alongside ex-Formula 1 driver and Le Mans winner Stefan Johansson and team owner Jim Matthews.
The team competed in the 2000 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in addition to the Le Mans 24 Hours race, in which Guy claimed another "Rookie of the Year" award. However Reynard's first foray into the world of Sports Car Racing was not a success as the car proved woefully unreliable; the highlight of the season being a 4th -place finish at the Daytona 24Hrs race.
Guy also passed his Indianapolis 500 "Rookie Orientation Test" aboard a Dallara IRL car.

However all was not lost as Guy's talent and speed were immediately recognised by Team Bentley who were putting together a 3-year programme to win Le Mans. Guy was offered a race seat for 2001 alongside team mates Martin Brundle and Stephane Ortelli and was lying 3rd at Le Mans when the car broke down.
He also contested the 2001 European Le Mans Series with Stefan Johansson in the Gulf-sponsored Audi R8, notching up 3 top four finishes. Guy was also invited to drive the Reynard-Judd LMP900 car for the Monza 1000kms where he gained pole position and led the race until the brakes failed with 10 laps to go.

Bentley decided to reduce their racing programme to one car for 2002 and Guy was retained as the full-time test driver for the programme. Bentley agreed to release him for limited other races and he gained podium positions at the 2002 Daytona 24Hrs (2nd ) and Sebring 12Hrs (3rd ) driving the works' Riley & Scott Mk.111.

For 2003 Guy is a central figure for Team Bentley's attack on both the Sebring 12hrs and the Le Mans 24hrs. He is partnered with four time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and last year's pole-position winner 'Dindo' Capello. After finishing 4th at Sebring in January, the trio swept all before them at Le Mans in June to capture pole position and 1st place in the world-famous 24 Hours race. Guy was selected to pilot the car across the finish line at the end of the historic 71st running of the event to mark an emotional sixth win for Bentley.

http://www.guysmith.com

Steve

[nrc]

I remember him from Tasman. Not bad, but not the best who ever sat in a Tasman seat. I suspect his number one qualification for the Rocketsports second chair is a check, but he's still a huge upgrade over Fabio.

[FCYTravis]

He can't possibly be worse than Fabio...

I still wish Memo would keep the seat full-time, but perhaps it's too much to ask.

[cart7]

The name sounded familiar and then I read that bio. Now I remember him from the Bentley ride. Memo hasn't exactly set the world on fire, granted, he was basically dropped by parachute into the car. Here's guessing Smith will do no worse than a couple others that have had seat time the last couple years.

[Audi_A4]

The name sounded familiar and then I read that bio. Now I remember him from the Bentley ride. Memo hasn't exactly set the world on fire, granted, he was basically dropped by parachute into the car. Here's guessing Smith will do no worse than a couple others that have had seat time the last couple years.

you are right that memo has not set the world on fire because he was dropped into the ride. MEMO gets a lot of airtime and media coverage which should hold value to the sponsors.

[Audi_A4]

Looks like the Rumor is now fact with several sites reporting this as true.

[ShickStift]

You guys are insane. This guy is a very talented driver and deserves the seat even more than Memo. He has been successful in every form of racing he has attempted, and managed to keep his career moving in the right direction despite never having the proper funding. :thumbup:

Bentley thought he was good enough to race their cars at Le Mans, and he ended up winning the race.

Guy Smith is very talented, Cart, and you the fans should be very proud to have him in your series.

[turn1]

It is official:

Guy Smith to Pilot the No.17 Rocketsports Champ Car


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GUY SMITH TO PILOT THE No. 17 ROCKETSPORTS LOLA
IN THE CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES

LANSING, Mich. (August 3, 2004) – Guy Smith, winner of the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours, will make an exciting return to open-wheel racing with Rocketsports Racing. The 28-year-old Englishman will join the Michigan-based team, owned by Paul Gentilozzi, in Round Eight of the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered By Ford at Road America on August 8, 2004 to drive the No. 17 Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone.

“This has been a long time coming so I’m over the moon about the opportunity Rocketsports Racing has given me”, commented a delighted Smith. “I did Indy Lights a few years ago with the intention to move up the ladder, but at the time the openings weren’t there. I fell into sports cars and had a fantastic few years, not least with the win at Le Mans. That win though, also served to fire me up again as I had reached the pinnacle of sports car racing, so it was time for a new challenge. It feels great to do something new and, although I know it will be tough in such a competitive series, I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Rocketsports Team Owner, Paul Gentilozzi, commented: “I’m happy to welcome Guy Smith to the Rocketsports team to drive the No.17 car. I was impressed when I first met Smith in the 2002 Daytona 24 Hours, where he finished second overall. He earned his first Le Mans 24 Hours win in 2003, and I watched as he finished on the podium in Le Mans again this year.

“Smith has demonstrated his stamina and skill as a driver in diverse categories and series,” added Gentilozzi. “He’s fast and has started from pole many times in his career. He produced competitive results in the Indy Lights Championship, where he won Rookie of the Year (1998), and was recognized and invited to test Champ Cars in 1999. He’ll have a solid, dedicated crew behind him and we’re excited to have him join us at Road America.”

Smith began his motor racing career in karting as a boy. By 1995 he was well-established in single-seater racing and dominated that year’s competitive Formula Renault Sport Championship, winning the title and a test with the Williams F1 team. Two seasons in the British F3 Championship followed and Smith won his first ever F3 race from pole position.

Smith then headed across the Atlantic to the Indy Lights series in the United States where he finished third in the 1998 Championship and lifted the coveted “Rookie of the Year” title. Smith remained in Indy Lights in 1999 in order to make the progression up to what was then called the CART series. In his time with Indy Lights, Smith drove for Tasman Motorsport, the team that spawned such driving greats as Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Cristiano da Matta.

In 2000 Smith decided to make a change and moved into sports car racing in the American Le Mans Championship with Johansson Matthews Racing. He also had his first taste of the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year and claimed another Rookie of the Year award.

At that time, Team Bentley were about to embark on a three-year program to win Le Mans, and Smith was snapped up to join the squad. The rest is history as Smith won the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours, arguably the world’s most prestigious race, alongside the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Good luck to Guy. And thanks to Paul, at the very least, I guess the opportunity he was given will get Memo's name back on the car owners' radar, but somehow I doubt it will lead to anything.

[mlj]

I remember him from Tasman. Not bad, but not the best who ever sat in a Tasman seat. I suspect his number one qualification for the Rocketsports second chair is a check, but he's still a huge upgrade over Fabio.

:shakehead

I knew he wasn't a ride buyer, but now it's confirmed :)

This week's Autosport Magazine reports that “I didn’t have to bring any money to the Rocketsports deal,” said Guy Smith. “Paul follows sports cars and kept an eye out for me. He said he didn’t want to repeat the mistake of taking a pay driver like Philippe. I’m going up against a good teammate with a lot more experience, but hopefully I’ll be able to beat him by the end of the year,” he said. Gentilozzi claims that Gidley, who qualified fifth at Vancouver last weekend, was released due to his clashing program in the Speed Touring Car Series. “This isn’t a knock on Memo – he did a great job for us,” said Gentilozzi. “But he has conflicts and I needed somebody for the remainder of the year.”