Ken Smith (racing driver)

Kenneth James Smith MBE (born 11 August 1941) is a New Zealand motor racing driver, who won the New Zealand Grand Prix in 1976, 1990, and 2004.^[1]^[2]

Smith first competed in motor racing in 1958, winning the New Zealand Hill Climb championship when he was 16. He progressed to single seater racing in 1962, first driving a Lola March T, Formula Junior car. Later he raced in Formula Ford, Formula 5000, Formula Pacific, Formula Mondial, and Toyota Racing Series among others^[3]^[4]

Smith won the Gold Star Drivers Award in the 1975–1976, 1983–1984, 1984–1985, 1986–1987 and 1989–1990 seasons.^[5] In 2011 Smith won the Formula 5000 Revival championship for the third time.^[6] As well as his victories in New Zealand, Smith also won the Penang Grand Prix three times, the Selangor Grand Prix twice, and the Malaysian Grand Prix once.^[7]

In 2021, Smith took part in his 50th New Zealand Grand Prix at age 79, during his 63rd consecutive season of racing.^[8]^[9]

Honours and awards edit

Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to motorsport,^[10] and in 1995 was inducted into the New Zealand Motorsport Hall of Fame.^[11] In 2008 he received the Motorsport Personality of the Year award.^[12] In 2010 he received a Motorsport New Zealand Special Award given in recognition of his pivotal role in motorsport.^[13]

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Position	Points
2014/15	Ken Smith Motorsport	Lola T332	Chevrolet	SAN R1	SAN R2	SAN R3	SMSP R1	SMSP R2	SMSP R3	HAM R1 1	HAM R2 1	HAM R3 1	HAM2 R1 1	HAM2 R2 1	HAM2 R3 1	RUA R1	RUA R2	RUA R3	MAN R1 1	MAN R2 1	MAN R3 1	N/A	0**
2015/16	Ken Smith Motorsport	Lola T332	Chevrolet	MAN R1 1	MAN R2 1	MAN R3 1	HAM R1 1	HAM R2 1	HAM R3 1	RUA R1 1	RUA R2 1	RUA R3 1	MAN2 R1 1	MAN2 R2 1	MAN2 R3 1	PHI R1 2	PHI R2 2	PHI R3 3	PHI R4 3			1st	?
2016/17	Ken Smith Motorsport	Lola T332	Chevrolet	BAR R1	BAR R2	BAR R3	SAN R1	SAN R2	SAN R3	HAM R1 1	HAM R2 1	HAM R3 1	TAU R1 1	TAU R2 3	TAU R3 1	RUA R1 1	RUA R2 1	RUA R3 2				N/A	0**
2017/18	Ken Smith Motorsport	Lola T332	Chevrolet	PUK R1 DNS	PUK R2 DNF	PUK R3 DNS	MAN R1	MAN R2	MAN R3	TAU R1 1	TAU R2 2	TAU R3 2	HAM R1 1	HAM R2 1	HAM R3 1	RUA R1 DNF	RUA R2 DNS	RUA R3 DNS	PHI R1	PHI R2	PHI R3	12th	272
2018/19	Ken Smith Motorsport	Lola T332	Chevrolet	PUK R1 1	PUK R2 1	PUK R3 1	TAU R1 1	TAU R2 1	TAU R3 1	HAM R1	HAM R2	HAM R3	RUA R1	RUA R2	RUA R3	HAM R1	HAM R2	HAM R3				1st	208

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	DC	Points
2007–08	Ken Smith Motorsport	PUK 1 5	PUK 2 10	PUK 3 12	RUA 1 13	RUA 2 11	RUA 3 13	MAN 1 16	MAN 2 12	MAN 3 11	TAU 1 16	TAU 2 15	TAU 3 15	MAN 1 8	MAN 2 8	MAN 3 11	TIM 1 8	TIM 2 8	TIM 3 12	TER 1 10	TER 2 10	TER 3 9	9th	652
2008–09	Ken Smith Motorsport	RUA 1	RUA 2	RUA 3	TIM 1	TIM 2	TIM 3	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3	MAN 1 DNS	MAN 2 6	MAN 3 7	PUK 1 Ret	PUK 2 7	PUK 3 Ret				16th	129
2010	Ken Smith Motorsport	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	TIM 1	TIM 2	TIM 3	HMP 1 9	HMP 2 7	HMP 3 12	MAN 1 9	MAN 2 8	MAN 3 10	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3							13th	214
2011	M2 Competition	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	TIM 1	TIM 2	TIM 3	HMP 1	HMP 2	HMP 3	MAN 1 15	MAN 2 13	MAN 3 11	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3							17th	78
2012	ETEC Motorsport	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	TIM 1	TIM 2	TIM 3	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3	HMP 1	HMP 2	HMP 3	MAN 1 17	MAN 2 17	MAN 3 13							21st	62
2013	Giles Motorsport	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	TIM 1	TIM 2	TIM 3	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3	HMP 1	HMP 2	HMP 3	MAN 1 19	MAN 2 10	MAN 3 16							22nd	67
2018	Victory Motor Racing	RUA 1	RUA 2	RUA 3	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	HMP 1	HMP 2	HMP 3	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3	MAN 1 13	MAN 2 13	MAN 3 12							14th	80
2019	Giles Motorsport	HIG 1	HIG 2	HIG 3	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	HMP 1	HMP 2	HMP 3	HMP 4	TAU 1	TAU 2	TAU 3	TAU 4	MAN 1 13	MAN 2 13	MAN 3 8					17th	27
2020	Giles Motorsport	HIG 1	HIG 2	HIG 3	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	HMP 1	HMP 2	HMP 3	PUK 1	PUK 2	PUK 3	MAN 1 17	MAN 2 19	MAN 3 15							21st	10
2021	Giles Motorsport	HD1 1 15	HD1 2 Ret	HD1 3 15	HD2 1	HD2 2	MAN 1	MAN 2	MAN 3	MAN 3													16th	12

^ "Ken Smith Still Has Winning Formula". Stuff.co.nz. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "New Zealand Grand Prix". Toyota Racing Series. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Ken Smith". Speedcafe.com. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Toyota Racing Series". Toyota Racing Series. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Gold Star Race Champions - Single Seater". Motorsport New Zealand. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Smith Secures Third Consecutive Formula 5000 Revival Crown". Motorsport New Zealand. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Titles". Ken Smith. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Tributes paid to Smith ahead of 50th NZGP start".
^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (14 January 2021). "KEN SMITH SET FOR 50TH NZ GP START". Retrieved 18 December 2023.
^ "No. 50950". The London Gazette (4th supplement). 13 June 1987. p. 32.
^ "'You' Night Attracts Scott Dixon". scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Motorsport New Zealand Media Awards". Motorsport New Zealand. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^ "Motorsport New Zealand Special Award". Motorsport New Zealand. Retrieved 8 January 2011.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Warwick Brown	New Zealand Grand Prix Winner 1976	Succeeded by Keke Rosberg
Preceded by Dean Hall	New Zealand Grand Prix Winner 1990	Succeeded by Craig Baird
Preceded by Jonny Reid	New Zealand Grand Prix Winner 2004	Succeeded by Simon Gamble