Motorsport: Smith holds out for spare car

NZ motor racing legend and F5000 Tasman Cup Revival series winner Kenny Smith, now over 70 years old, shows off his Lola T333 to young fan Josh O'Halloran. Picture / Ann Reading

Run of 47 consecutive Grands Prix may have come to end for legend

New Zealand motorsport royalty is probably the best way to describe 72-year-old Kenny Smith.

While not quite an unsung hero in Kiwi motor racing, Smith tends to keep his head down and go about his business of racing, building cars and mentoring young drivers.

Smith has raced competitively for around 56 consecutive years and has gone wheel-to-wheel with the best in the world including Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon.

He won the first of his three New Zealand Grand Prix titles in 1976, backed up with another in 1990 and more recently in 2004.

He was winning hill climbs in 1958 and is still a force to be reckoned with 56 years later and has more motor racing titles than you can poke a stick at. This weekend at Manfeild, he was hoping to park up his F5000 and climb back into a Toyota Racing Series car for his 48th consecutive tilt at the New Zealand Grand Prix.

"I'm a little bit disappointed, I'd have to say," said Smith. "At the moment [Driven going to press] there are no spare cars lying around. There are a couple in private hands and unfortunately the one that was promised to me isn't anymore.

"It doesn't suit their criteria anymore to let me race it. We're still hanging in here hoping but as time marches on chances are getting pretty slim. The cars are owned by a trust and I don't know what the problem is. We've tried really hard and won't be giving in until the last minute.

"If I started at the back of the grid having turned up on Sunday it wouldn't worry me.

"I'd be happy to turn up without any practice and get that 48th Grand Prix start so I can carry on and get 50 of them in a row."

There is one TRS car available and that's the ex-Pedro Piquet one. After two rounds of the championship in Teretonga and Timaru, a licence issue raised its head for the 15-year-old son of three-time world Formula One champion Nelson Piquet and he had to withdraw from the series.

The car hasn't been used since so it could be an option.

"Yes, there is a car sitting there but I think Nick Cassidy will be sitting in that [Driven can now confirm that's the case]. It's good for him to be in it because at the end of the day he's won two NZGPs and he's trying for three in a row, which would be a good feat for him.

"It is a bit of a disappointment as I've raced there [Manfeild] for 40 years but if we can't get on the grid for the GP I'll run the Formula Ford there," said Smith.

It'll be a huge disappointment if Smith doesn't make the starting sheet for the New Zealand Grand Prix but at least his continuous record of racing on the Manfeild circuit since it opened will remain intact.

The veteran wheeled out his Formula Ford car at the last round of the TRS series in the support Formula Ford category and notched up another win, getting one over his much younger rivals.

"I had a good run at Hampton Downs with two thirds and a win in the feature race. It's all about being crafty and using your race craft to get one over the young drivers. There are some good kids out there and it was wheel-to-wheel cut and thrust.

"It's a great class and we have to keep it because that's where all the young good ones come from," said Smith.

He won't be giving up on trying to get a Grand Prix start, that's for sure, and he's pretty philosophical about not ticking off number 48.

He said he'd had a good innings and was just happy to be able to go racing and won't be stopping.

"There's always hope," he said.