Kenneth James Smith (born 11 August 1941) is a New Zealand motor racing driver, who won the New Zealand Grand Prix in 1976, 1990, and 2004.
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
Smith won the Gold Star Drivers Award in the 1975–1976, 1983–1984, 1984–1985, 1986–1987 and 1989–1990 seasons. In 2011, Smith won the Formula 5000 Revival championship for the third time. 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.
In 2021, Smith took part in his 50th New Zealand Grand Prix at age 79, during his 63rd consecutive season of racing. Smith also mentored current Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson in his early career.
Honours and awards Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to motorsport, and in 1995 was inducted into the New Zealand Motorsport Hall of Fame. In 2008, he received the Motorsport Personality of the Year award. In 2010, he received a Motorsport New Zealand Special Award given in recognition of his pivotal role in motorsport.
Racing Record NZ F5000 Tasman Revival Series Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Position Points2014/15 Ken Smith Motorsport Lola T332 ChevroletSANR1SANR2SANR3SMSPR1SMSPR2SMSPR3HAMR11HAMR21HAMR31HAM2R11HAM2R21HAM2R31RUAR1 RUAR2 RUAR3 MANR11MANR21MANR31N/A0**2015/16 Ken Smith Motorsport Lola T332 ChevroletMANR11MANR21MANR31HAMR11HAMR21HAMR31RUAR1 1RUAR2 1RUAR3 1MAN2R1 1MAN2R2 1MAN2R3 1PHIR1 2PHIR2 2PHIR3 3PHIR4 31st ?2016/17 Ken Smith Motorsport Lola T332 ChevroletBARR1BARR2BARR3SANR1SANR2SANR3HAMR11HAMR21HAMR31TAUR11TAUR23TAUR31RUAR11RUAR21RUAR32N/A0**2017/18 Ken Smith Motorsport Lola T332 ChevroletPUKR1DNSPUKR2DNFPUKR3DNS MANR1MANR2MANR3TAUR11TAUR22TAUR32HAMR11HAMR21HAMR31RUAR1DNFRUAR2DNSRUAR3DNSPHIR1PHIR2PHIR3 12th 2722018/19 Ken Smith Motorsport Lola T332 ChevroletPUKR11PUKR21PUKR31 TAUR11TAUR21TAUR31HAMR1HAMR2HAMR3RUAR1RUAR2RUAR3HAMR1HAMR2HAMR31st208 * Season Still in progress ** Needed to compete at all rounds to be classified for points
Complete Toyota Racing Series results (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 PUK1 PUK2 PUK3 RUA1 RUA2 RUA3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 TAU1 TAU2 TAU3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 TIM1 TIM2 TIM3 TER1 TER2 TER3 9th 652 2008–09 Ken Smith MotorsportRUA1RUA2RUA3TIM1TIM2TIM3TER1TER2TER3TAU1TAU2TAU3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 PUK1 PUK2 PUK3 16th 129 2010 Ken Smith MotorsportTER1TER2TER3TIM1TIM2TIM3HMP1HMP2HMP3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3TAU1TAU2TAU3 13th 214 2011 M2 CompetitionTER1TER2TER3TIM1TIM2TIM3HMP1HMP2HMP3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3TAU1TAU2TAU3 17th 78 2012 ETEC MotorsportTER1TER2TER3TIM1TIM2TIM3TAU1TAU2TAU3HMP1HMP2HMP3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 21st 62 2013 Giles MotorsportTER1TER2TER3TIM1TIM2TIM3TAU1TAU2TAU3HMP1HMP2HMP3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 22nd 67 2018 Victory Motor RacingRUA1RUA2RUA3TER1TER2TER3HMP1HMP2HMP3TAU1TAU2TAU3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 14th 80 2019 Giles MotorsportHIG1HIG2HIG3TER1TER2TER3HMP1HMP2HMP3HMP4TAU1TAU2TAU3TAU4 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 17th 27 2020 Giles MotorsportHIG1HIG2HIG3TER1TER2TER3HMP1HMP2HMP3PUK1PUK2PUK3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 21st 10 2021 Giles Motorsport HD11 HD12 HD13HD21HD22MAN1MAN2MAN3MAN3 16th 12
References
External links Ken Smith Motorsport Motorsport New Zealand