As Guy Smith was aiming to make his way in the single-seater world, he went to the United States as he clung to a dream to reach the top. An encounter with ace team manager John Wickham in the US changed his career trajectory and led him to Le Mans victory.
Smith was racing with Stefan Johansson’s team in America, and it was a programme that also included his Le Mans debut in 2000. Wickham was the team guru, and he was also working secretly in the background on the nascent return of Bentley to Le Mans.
Alongside the established star-name signings, Bentley wanted a young British charger to join the line-up. Having impressed Wickham, Smith – who had been working in the family’s Swift Caravans firm – got the call to don the British Racing Green overalls.
He partnered Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello to a famous victory in 2003, and it was the launchpad to a successful sportscar career that continues to this day.
Smith kindly took time out of his busy schedule to tackle the Motorsport News readers’ questions, and we are grateful.
Question: What got the young Guy Smith interested in motorsport in the first place? Was the passion in your family? Nathaniel Cropp
Via email
Guy Smith: “We grew up in Yorkshire and my dad, Peter, was really into his road rallying: in fact, he used to do the Motoring News-supported championship. He had a Ford Escort Mk1 and he built his own car. He got to quite a reasonable standard.
“We used to go and do the Tour of Mull Rally when I was younger. I remember our family holidays would be being packed off into a car – me and my sister in the back – and we would head for Scotland. We would get the Oban-to-Tobermory ferry and we would stay in the Isle of Mull hotel. Dad would go off and do his recces and do the event, and that was the extent of our family holiday, not that I would complain!
“I grew up around the sport with him being in the garage with the rally cars and I would always be hanging around and about. My grandad, Ken, had set up Swift Caravans while my dad was at college and working on his rally cars, but sadly my grandad died when he was only 56 years old. My dad was only 19 himself, but he had to get more involved with the business and take it over.
“That meant that his rallying had to take a back seat for a while. Firstly, he didn’t really have the money and secondly, he really didn’t have the time. So that stopped him, but the passion was always there for the both of us.
“During that time, my dad had met an up-and-coming racing driver called Dave Scott. He had written to my dad asking if he would sponsor him with a caravan or a motorhome or something. Scott was doing Formula Ford, and dad lent him a caravan to use. I would go along to the Formula Ford races with my dad to watch Dave – we went to Goodwood and places like that – and it turned out he was a bit of a star. He went straight from Formula Ford to Formula 3 and on to Formula 3000 eventually. I have some video footage of me at the
