Five season TRS Veteran

Birth date: 11 August 1941 (68)

Home town: Auckland

Team: Ken Smith Motorsport

Sponsors: Exide

Website: www.kensmith.co.nz

Kenny Smith is the ultimate veteran racing driver in International motorsport.

At the age of 68 and in his 52^nd year of competition, Kenny is rightly proud of his passion for single seater racing and his achievement of being the most loyal supporter of TRS since it began in 2005. He has lined up every season since and is still capable of running competitively against the youngsters.

He debuted in the New Zealand Grand Prix in 1963, racing a Lotus 22 against the likes of Clark, Hill, Stewart, Rindt, Surtees, McLaren, Amon and Hulme in the Tasman Series.

Kenny has taken three New Zealand Grand Prix wins in three different classes; and each win was separated by 14 years.

In 1976 he took his first NZGP win at Pukekohe in a Formula 5000 Lola T332. During the Formula Pacific era he won his second GP in 1990, again at Pukekohe, in a Swift chassis; and rounding out his amazing record, Kenny won his third NZGP in a Formula Ford Stealth Van Diemen at Teretonga in 2004.

Today Kenny shares his time between TRS and Formula 5000. He won last season’s Tasman Revival series in F5000 with 15 wins in Australia and New Zealand. In 2010 he will race one of David Abbott’s pair of Lola T430 chassis in the historic racing series.

His Exide sponsored TRS chassis – running his familiar racing number 11 – will compete at the Hampton Downs and NZGP rounds.  Kenny always shows well at Manfeild. His best qualifying in TRS was a front row start at the Manawatu circuit and his best TRS result is a fourth at Manfeild.

Sadly, his 92-year-old mother Dorothy passed away at Manfeild during the 2008 Grand Prix meeting but bravely Kenny arrived for the race and finished in sixth place. Furthermore, Kenny was only pipped for fastest lap at last year’s NZGP at Manfeild by Earl Bamber in the closing laps.

Supporting Kenny at the races in 2010, as ever, will be his sister Maureen and his nieces Karen and Michelle.

Kenny still owns his restored March 76B Formula Pacific car, recently repurchased the ex-Teo Fabi NZGP winning March 782 and has just acquired a Lola T332 from the USA. In partnership with his loyal crew of Barry Miller and Phil Richardson he plans to rebuild this F5000 chassis.

In the meantime, Kenny continues to be the longest serving driver in TRS. Kenny is 43 years older than Mitch Evans, who at the age of 15 is the youngest competitor.

Kenny intends to join the TRS grid for the North Island rounds and is particularly looking forward to racing in the Grand Prix at Manfeild – a circuit where he has always been fast.