Paul Smith (racing driver)

On a March 782, Paul Smith was fourteenth overall in the Aurora AFX Formula 1 Series in 1980

Paul Smith (born October 29, 1955 in Sutton Coldfield ) is a British racing car driver .

Racing career

Paul Smith began his career with a fourth final place in the British Formula Atlantic Championship in 1979. Overall winner was Ray Mallock ahead of Jim Crawford . The further monoposto time led to the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series , where he was fourteenth overall on a March 782 in 1980 , and into the Formula 2 European Championship .

From the 1982 season, Smith mainly competed in touring and sports car races in Europe and North America. He competed in the IMSA GTP series , competed in the German racing championship and the sports car world championship . In the 2000s he drove historic racing cars and was a regular starter in the 24-hour race at Silverstone .

Paul Smith entered the race four times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In 1983 , together with John Cooper and David Ovey in a Porsche 930, he achieved class victory in Group B. The best place in the final classification was eighth in 1982 with Cooper and Claude Bourgoignie in a Porsche 935K3 .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1982	Charles Ivy Racing	Porsche 935K3	Claude Bourgoignie	John Cooper	Rank 8
1983	Charles Ivey Racing	Porsche 930	David Ovey	John Cooper	11th place and class win
1984	Charles Ivey Racing	Porsche 930	David Ovey	Margie Smith-Haas	failure	Oil leak
1985	Roy Baker Promotions	Tiga GC285	Will Hoy	Nick Nicholson	Rank 21

Web links

• Paul Smith at the Driver Database
• Paul Smith at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ^ British Formula Atlantic Championship 1979