Driving a Lola T332 similar to one he raced in the 1970s and 80s, 72-year-old Kenny Smith is the unofficial F5000 world champion.Picture/Fast Company: Alex Mitchell
Driving a Lola T332 similar to one he raced in the 1970s and 80s, 72-year-old Kenny Smith is the unofficial F5000 world champion.Picture/Fast Company: Alex Mitchell
Veteran Kenny Smith knows what it takes to be the best
Driving a Lola T332 similar to one he raced in the 1970s and 80s, 72-year-old Kenny Smith is the unofficial F5000 world champion.Picture / Fast Company: Alex Mitchell
Scott Dixon could be a bit of a clown when he was younger, but as soon as he got into a car he became a totally different person -- Kenny Smith
If any young racing driver wants to gain an advantage over their competitors they should phone Kenny Smith.
The spritely 72-year-old has raced 56 consecutive seasons in just about everything with an engine and four wheels, with or without a roof, and is in no great hurry to hang up his helmet.
The racecraft inside his head beggars belief -- and he's happy to help and mentor any youngster who has the goods and is willing to listen.
Smith has gone wheel-to-wheel with Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon. He won the first of his three NZGP titles in 1976, backed up with another in 1990 and again in 2004.
He continues to punt an F5000 car around. At the recent NZ Festival of Motor Sport he won all six races, becoming the unofficial world champion.
Smith's greatest gift has been mentoring young Kiwi talent. Many have become highly sought after around the world: think Scott Dixon, Brendon Hartley, Shane van Gisbergen, Greg Murphy, Daniel Gaunt and Matt Halliday.
The latest to have benefited from Smith's guidance is the recently crowned Toyota TR86 national champion, Tom Alexander.
"I feel good about Alexander winning -- it's almost like you've won it yourself," said Smith.
"I'm happy I've been able to pick the right class of people over the years to help. I've probably been involved with about a dozen drivers over the years and half of them have gone on to become very successful professional racers overseas.
"What's good is that the ones who have made it know how lucky they are, while others think they are God now and soon find out they are not."
Outright speed is not what Smith looks for. Anyone can go fast for a short time before they either crash or run out of puff. What he looks for in a young racer is passion, drive, concentration -- and, above all, the willingness to listen.
Kenny Smith at the4 2015 NZGP event at Manfeild. Photo/Bruce Jenkins
"You have to look around and find people who want to do it and become a success. You get a lot of guys who can be quick straight away but some of them don't have the will to keep going.
"When talking to some of them you can tell they're happy to be fast for a day but their heart's not really in it. They don't live, eat, sleep and breathe motorsport. You have to be totally committed all the time to go well.
"Scott Dixon could be a bit of a clown when he was younger, but as soon as he got into a car he flicked a switch and became a totally different person -- 100 per cent focused on the task at hand. That's the sort of bloke you're looking for.
"Some guys you can tell the same thing over and over again but you can see them thinking, 'I know what I'm doing, what's he talking about?'. You can tell the good ones what you saw them doing on the track, how to fix it and they'll go back out and keep changing until they get it right.
"The ones who don't listen are never going to make it."
Some drivers will look fast in places on the track but are unable to string together a complete lap, let alone an entire race, he says. What's required to get to the top is great car control and being able to put a car anywhere on the track and still be in total control.
Van Gisbergen is one of the best at this, as he proved last year when he went around the outside of V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup in the wet. You can't teach that sort of car balance and finesse; it has to be instinctive.
"Some guys would be a lunatic, try a pass like that and have no idea what was going to happen. Shane knew exactly what he was doing and was in total control the whole time," Smith said.
"It's the quiet ones with their feet firmly on the ground that normally go well. Others, though, are full of themselves, talk a lot and are full of bull -- that doesn't work."
Three of Smith's proteges -- Dixon, Hartley and van Gisbergen -- are shining examples of what he looks for: a certain stillness and lack of pretence. Whenever they are back in the country, each makes time to catch up with the doyen of Kiwi motorsport. It shows their respect for Smith and how he helped them.
"Nothing is worse than helping someone, and then they walk straight past you with just a bit of a wave. The good ones will always talk to you and appreciate the help they once got."
