Dean Smith's career profile
Dean Smith's profile
Autosport Awards
The Autosport Awards are a series of awards presented by motor racing magazine Autosport to drivers that have achieved significant milestones each season. Some of the presentations are selected by the general public via a reader's poll.
Born 2/3/1988
Career Highlights
2009 Formula Renault UK champion with Manor Competition
2008 17th in Formula Renault Eurocup with Fortec Motorsport. Scores two fourths on British F3 debut at Donington Park with Fortec.
2007 Formula Renault UK runner-up with Fortec Motorsport.
2006 Ninth in Formula Renault UK (Coles Racing)
2005 Formula BMW UK champion (Nexa Racing)
2004 Finishes 15th in Formula BMW UK, his first season of car racing.
Winning the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award has justified Dean Smith's decision to return to Formula Renault for a fourth season in 2009.
Smith, who raced in Formula Renault UK for two years before a difficult 2008 in the Eurocup, finished last year with two fourths on his British F3 debut at Donington Park. But a lack of funds kept him from a full F3 campaign heading in to 2009 and Smith looked set to switch to GT racing.
Having completed five seasons in single-seaters, which included taking the 2005 Formula BMW UK title, Smith moved to the Porsche Carrera Cup.
After a competitive showing in the opener at Brands Hatch, however, he was handed the opportunity to join crack Formula Renault UK squad Manor Competiton. Smith grabbed it and, despite the pressure of expectation that comes with entering a fourth season in Renault's junior category, he excelled.
Smith made up for missing the opening two races by taking seven wins on his way to beating Fortec Motorsport rival James Calado to the title. He joins a list of Formula Renault UK champions that includes F1 world champions Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.
That performance earned him a place on this year's McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award, alongside Calado, British Formula Ford champion James Cole, American Star Mazda champion Adam Christodoulou, European F3 Open Class B champion Callum MacLeod, and Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival winner Chrissy Palmer. It was Smith's second appearance in the award, having been chosen in 2007 after finishing second in Formula Renault UK to Fortec team-mate Duncan Tappy.
This year Smith impressed the judging panel, which included 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill, ex-Minardi and Honda F1 driver Anthony Davidson and DTM star Jamie Green, across a number of tests to win the Award.
He is now aiming at a seat in the new F1-supporting GP3 series for 2010, but AUTOSPORT understands he also has options in British F3.
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