John Smith (born 12 August 1952, Sydney) was a racing driver from Australia, active from 1970 to 1994. As of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, Smith is the last Australian driver to have finished on the podium of the Australian Grand Prix in 1983, prior to it joining the world championship calendar in 1985.
Racing career
The son of a car dealer, Smith originally raced a Mini Cooper before moving to Formula Vee single-seaters in 1974. In 1975 he bought a Rennmax Formula Ford and was the 1977 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series champion,Formula Ford, Australian Competition Yearbook, 1978 Edition, pages 82 & 83 having been runner-up the previous year.1976 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series, www.formulaford.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
In 1979, Allan Grice put Smith in contact with privateer Holden Torana driver Ralph Radburn for his debut in the Bathurst 1000, and the duo came an unlikely third. As a result of Smith's efforts, he was placed with Grice the following year.
Smith focussed on single seaters over the next few years, winning the 1981 Australian Formula 2 Championship in a Ralt RT1 and finishing as runner-up in the 1983 Australian Drivers' Championship in a Ralt RT4. He was also runner-up in the 1983 Australian Grand Prix.
From 1985 to 1988, Smith's activities were mostly in the Australian Touring Car Championship, driving for Toyota, although without any significant success; he returned to the series in Toyotas in 1990 and 1993. At the end of 1988, he took part in the Sandown Park Supersprint, the final round of the 1988 World Sportscar Championship, sharing an ADA with Arthur Abrahams, and finished 7th.
Career results Racing record Season Series Position Car Team 1976 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series 2nd Bowin P4A Ford John Smith / Lappington Inn 1977 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series 1st Bowin P4A Ford Grace Bros Race Team 1979 New Zealand Formula Pacific 6th Ralt RT1 Ford BDA Graham Watson Racing Australian Drivers' Championship 4th Mr Juicy Racing Australian Formula 2 Championship 6th Ralt - Ford 1980 Australian Drivers' Championship 4th Ralt RT1 Ford BDA John Smith Australian Formula 2 Championship 2nd Ralt - Ford 1981 Australian Formula 2 Championship 1st Ralt - Ford John Smith National Panasonic Series 3rd Ralt RT1 Ford BDA 1982 Australian Drivers Championship 4th Ralt RT4 Ford BDD John Smith 1983 Australian Drivers Championship 2nd Ralt RT4 Ford BDD John Smith Australian Sports Car Championship 18th Tiga SC80 - Mazda 1984 Australian Drivers Championship 8th Tiga TA81 Ford BDD Porsche Cars Australia Australian Endurance Championship 45th Toyota Sprinter Toyota Team Australia 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship 7th Toyota SprinterToyota Corolla Toyota Team Australia Australian Endurance Championship 4th Toyota Corolla 1986 Australian 2-Litre Touring Car Championship 1st Toyota Corolla Toyota Team Australia 1987 Australian 2-Litre Touring Car Championship 4th Toyota Corolla Toyota Team Australia Australian Touring Car Championship 18th 1988 World Sports Prototype Championship 66th ADA 03 - Ford Cosworth DFL ADA Engineering World Sports Prototype Championship (Group C2) 40th 1989 Australian Drivers Championship 11th Ralt RT21 -Holden David Mawer 1990 Australian Endurance Championship 20th Toyota SupraToyota Corolla Toyota Team Australia 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship 11th Toyota CorollaToyota Corolla Seca Caltex CXT Racing Australian 2-Litre Touring Car Championship 2nd 1995 Australian GT Production Car Series 20th Porsche 993 RSCS Morgan & Banks 1997 Australian GT Production Car Series 12th Porsche 993 RSCS Morgan & Banks 2007 New South Wales Formula Ford Championship 15th Lola T440 John Smith 2008 New South Wales Formula Ford Championship 12th Lola T440 John Smith 2011 New South Wales Formula Ford Championship 3rd Listec WIL013 Listec Cars Australia
Complete New Zealand Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Main race 1979 Greame Watson Ralt RT1 Ford BDA 4th 4th 1980 John Smith Ralt RT1 Ford BDA 4th 8th 1981 John Smith March 77B Ford BDA 4th 4th
Complete Australian Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Main race 1979 John Smith Ralt RT1 Ford BDA 10th 4th 1980 John Smith Ralt RT1 Ford BDA 12th DNF 1981 John Smith Ralt RT4 Ford 8th 12th 1982 John Smith Ralt RT4 Ford BDD 8th 9th 1983 John Smith Ralt RT4 Ford BDD 3rd 2nd
Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points1981 John Smith Ford XD Falcon SYM CAL CAL ORA SAN SAN WAN AIR AIR SUR LAK NC 0 1985 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT WIN7 SAN9 SYM10 WAN11 AIR12 CAL11 SUR10 LAK8 AMA10 ORA15 7th 110 1986 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT AMA SYM SAN AIR WAN SUR CAL LAK WIN ORA 15th 35 1987 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT CAL SYM LAK WAN AIR SUR SAN AMA ORA 18th 6 1988 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla FX GT CAL SYM WIN WAN AIR LAK SAN AMA ORA NC 0 1989 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla FX GT AMA SYM LAK WAN MAL SAN WIN ORA NC 0 1990 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Supra Turbo AMA SYM PHI WIN LAK MAL BAR ORA NC 0 1993 Caltex CXT Racing Toyota Corolla FX-GT AE90 AMAR1 AMAR2 SYMR3 SYMR4 PHIR5 PHIR6 LAKR7 LAKR8 WINR9 WINR10 11th 48 Toyota Corolla Seca AE93 EASR11 EASR12 MALR13 MALR14 BARR15 BARR16 ORAR17 ORAR18
Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Car Co-driver Overallposition Classposition Laps 1979 Ralph Radburn Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback Ralph Radburn 3rd 155 1980 Craven Mild Racing Holden VC Commodore Allan Grice 7th 7th 156 1981 Peter Williamson Toyota Toyota Celica Peter Williamson 12th 1st 111 1985 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT Drew Price 17th 1st 147 1986 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT Drew Price DNF 49 1987 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT Drew Price John Faulkner DNF 43 1988 Shell Ultra Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500 Dick Johnson John Bowe Alfredo Costanzo 2nd 160 1989 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Supra Turbo A Drew Price DNF 35 1990 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Supra Turbo A Peter McKay Mark Poole DNF 30 1993 Caltex CXT Racing Team Toyota Corolla Seca Peter McKay Mark Poole DNF 33 1997 Playscape Racing Ford Falcon EF Kevin Waldock DNF 29
Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1987 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA BNO SIL BAT CLD WEL FJI NC 0
Complete World Sports Prototype Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points1988 ADA Engineering ADA 03 - Ford Cosworth JRZ JAR MON SIL LMS BRN BHT NUR SPAFJI SAN7 68th 6
Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1991 Caltex CXT Racing Team Colin Bond Bruce Stewart Toyota MR2 S 233 6th 1st 1992 John Bourke John Bourke Steve Griffiths Toyota Supra T 189 DNF 1993 Quell Fire & Safety Equipment Geoff Morgan Kevin Waldock Porsche 968 CS C 263 DSQ 1994 Mercantile Mutual Dealer Team Jason Bargwanna Scott Bargwanna Toyota MR2 S 248 5th 2nd
Complete Eastern Creek 12 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1995 Geoff Morgan Geoff Morgan Brad Jones Porsche 911 RSCS X 111 DNF
References
External links
John Smith profile at Racing Years John Smith profile at The Third Turn