Guy Smith third at Sebring
GUY SMITH STARS IN SEBRING TO TAKE THIRD PLACE Briton Guy Smith drove a storming race from ninth on the grid to take third place overall at the end of a gruelling 12 Hours of Sebring. The 27 year-old from Hull, partnered in the Matthews Racing Riley & Scott MkIIIC by team owner Jim Matthews and Belgian Marc Goossens, was delighted with the result, his second podium position of the season. “What a fantastic result. The odds were really against us for this race as there were so many factory teams out there and realistically I would have been happy just with a top five position so to get on the podium again is fantastic. The Matthews Racing Team and my team-mates Jim and Marc did a great job.” “After testing I’d felt quite confident as the car was going really well and of course reliability is a major factor in the success of the Riley & Scott. But after qualifying 9th, when I really felt we could have been higher, things looked a bit more difficult but as in all endurance races, there’s a long way to go and anything can happen and normally does.” “The car ran faultlessly throughout the 12 hours, just routine stops for fuel, tyres and driver changes. The main problem was the heat, it just got hotter and hotter inside the car and my feet were so hot it was like an 180mph sauna! It was pretty much single file racing with all the rubber on the track too but it was great fun and it really is a fantastic result.” Team boss and driver Jim Matthews was equally pleased with the result, “Ain’ t this cool? The race we ran went actually just as we planned. The car ran consistently and reliably and co-operated all day. The drivers and crew did great!” RESULTS OF THE 12 HOURS OF SEBRING 1. Herbert/Capello/Pescatori Audi Sport North America R8 2. Wallace/ Lammers/Johansson Champion Racing R8 3. SMITH/MATTHEWS/GOOSSENS MATTHEWS RACING RILEY & SCOTT MKIII C 4. Weaver/Leitzinger/Forbes-Robinson Dyson Racing Riley & Scott 5. Pirro/Biela/Kristensen Audi Sport North America R8 6. Wilson/Collins/Vann Team Ascari Judd Ref: GS0022 17th March 2002 Editors note: Further information and photographs are available from the official Guy Smith website at www.guysmith.com <http://www.guysmith.com/> . For media information: Cathy Metcalfe, MPR Associates, The Bothy, 20 Jenkinson Road, Towcester, Northants NN12 6AW Tel: +44 (0) 1327 352199 Fax: +44 (0) 1327 352908 E-mail: cmetcalfe@mprassociates.net <mailto:cmetcalfe@mprassociates.net> E-mail: cathy.metcalfe@btinternet.com <mailto:cathy.metcalfe@btinternet.com>