| Didier Theys | |
|---|---|
 Didier Theys in 1991 | |
| Nationality |  Belgian |
| Born | (1956-10-19)19 October 1956 (age 68) |
Didier Maurice Theys[1] (born 19 October 1956[2]) is a Belgian sports car driver.[3] He is a two-time overall winner of the24 Hours of Daytona (1998 and 2002);[4] a winner of the12 Hours of Sebring (1998);[5] the Sports Racing Prototype driver champion of the Grand-American Road Racing Association (2002)[6] and the winner of the24 Hours of Spa (1987 in a factory BMW).[7] He was also the polesitter (1996) and a podium finisher at the24 Hours of Le Mans (1997,1998 and1999). The podium finish in 1999 was a third overall in the factoryAudi R8R with co-driversEmanuele Pirro andFrank Biela.[8] Theys' first appearance at Le Mans was in 1982, while his last start in the world's most famous endurance sports car race came 20 years later in 2002.
Theys won the Belgium Karting championship in 1977. Later he competed in several feeder formulae: he won several Formula Ford championships in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the U.S. BoschSuper Vee championship in 1986; and theAmerican Racing Series (nowIndy Lights) championship in 1987. He was also successful in theEuropean Formula Three Championship andFormula 2 in the 1980s. He finished third in theMonaco Formula 3 Grand Prix in 1985.
Theys competed in theCART Indy Car Series from 1987 to 1993 with 47 career starts,[9] including theIndianapolis 500 three times (1989, 1990 and 1993).[10] He finished in the top ten 10 times in CART events, and his best career finish in that series was a third position in Miami in 1988.
Theys ran theIMSA GT Championship in 1995 on aFerrari 333SP. He finished fourth in 1996, 11th in 1997 and 6th in the series' final season in 1998.
Theys' 1998 victories at Daytona and Sebring came in the Kevin Doran-prepared MOMO Ferrari with co-driversMauro Baldi,Arie Luyendyk andGiampiero Moretti.[11] His 2002 Daytona victory came in the Doran Lista Dallara Judd with co-drivers Baldi,Fredy Lienhard andMax Papis.[12]
His 1998 season was a record-setter, as in addition to winning Daytona and Sebring, Theys also won the Six Hours ofWatkins Glen.
He also finished second overall in theFIA Sportscar Championship that year, winning at Paul Ricard, France.
In addition to hisGrand-Am driver championship in 2002, Theys finished third in the driver point standings in that series in 2001 and was the runner-up in 2000. He had four victories in his championship 2002 season, and established the largest margin of victory in series history in winning the race at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec from the pole that year.
Prior to retiring from pro racing in March 2009, Theys also competed in the Le Mans Series in Europe with Horag Racing from 2005 through 2008, winning theMonza 1,000 km race in the LMP2 category in 2007[13] and a similar event at theNürburgring in 2005 in a Lola Judd. He finished his pro driving career in the Horag Racing-prepared Lista OfficePorsche RS Spyder in the Le Mans Series' LMP2 division in 2008, finishing second in class at Spa and Silverstone, third at Monza and winning the Michelin Energy Challenge that season.
Theys also drove aMaserati MC 12 for Doran Racing in theALMS in 2007, an effort that stunned the GT1 class when it beat the factory Corvettes to win the pole at thePetit Le Mans that year.
Upon his retirement from driving professionally, Theys had finished on the podium 61 times in sports car races all over the world, with 18 victories, 22 second-place finishes and 21 third-place finishes through the end of the 2008 season. He has the most professional victories of anyone in a Ferrari 333 SP with 10.
He received the prestigious Driver of the Year Award in his native Belgium in 2002.
Theys currently works as a racing driver coach and consultant. He is also the Driving Director ofDrivingXllenceArchived 20 August 2012 at theWayback Machine, an automotive event company that allows guests to experience the exhilaration and adrenaline of being behind the wheel of the world's newest and best Supercars.[14][15]
Although he never gave up his Belgium citizenship, Theys resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., for many years, and still lives there. That municipality honored him with the keys to the city in honor of his GRAND-AM driver championship and second 24 Hours of Daytona victory.He is married to Florence Richardson.
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Kinley Luigi Racing | Patrick Nève Hans-Joachim Stuck | BMW 530i | T +2.5 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1980 |  TWR Mazda Motul Team | Jeff Allam Benoit Béguin John Morrison | Mazda RX-7 | T +2.5 | 358 | 21st | 4th |
| 1982 | Belgian Audi VW Club | Michel Maillien Jean Wansart | VW Scirocco GTI | Div.1 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1985 |  Eggenberger Motorsport | Pierre Dieudonné Carlo Rossi | Volvo 240 Turbo | Div.3 | 489 | 4th | 4th |
| 1986 |  RAS Sport | Thomas Lindström Ulf Granberg | Volvo 240 Turbo | Div.3 | 460 | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Waterloo Motors | Jean-Michel MartinEric van de Poele | BMW M3 | Div.2 | 481 | 1st | 1st |
| 1988 | Ford Texaco Eggenberger Racing Team | Gianfranco BrancatelliBertrand Gachot | Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth | Div.3 | 506 | DNF | DNF |
| 1989 | BMW Belgium | Marc DuezSteve Soper | BMW 635 CSi | Div.2 | 182 | DNF | DNF |
| 1993 | Team Paduwa | Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Libert | Porsche 964 Carrera 2 | PRO GT | 279 | 16th | 16th |
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Martini USA | Martini MK 47, MK 50 | VWBertils | LBH 4 | IRP 1 | MIL | DET Ret | MEA 1 | CLE 1 | ROA1 13 | MDO 8 | ROA2 2 | LS 2 | PHX Ret | MIA 1 | STP 1 | 1st | 155 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Newman Teamworks | LBH 7 | PHX | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | TOR | MCH | POC | ROA 22 | MDO | NAZ | LAG | 30th | 6 | [18] | |||
| Truesports Co. | MIA 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | Dick Simon Racing | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | POR 10 | CLE 9 | TOR 18 | MEA 21 | MCH | POC | MDO 10 | ROA 23 | NAZ | LAG 8 | MIA 3 | 15th | 29 | [19] | ||
| 1989 | Arciero Racing | PHX 20 | LBH 23 | INDY 20 | MIL 17 | 21st | 9 | [20] | |||||||||||||
| Hemelgarn Racing | DET 9 | POR 20 | CLE 12 | MEA 26 | TOR | MCH | POC | ||||||||||||||
| Vince Granatelli Racing | MDO 11 | ROA 11 | NAZ 21 | LAG 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Vince Granatelli Racing | PHX 14 | LBH 11 | INDY 11 | MIL | DET 13 | POR 20 | CLE 23 | MEA 28 | TOR 7 | MCH | DEN 9 | VAN 25 | MDO 16 | ROA | NAZ | 18th | 15 | [21] | ||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | LAG 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Leader Card Racing | SRF | LBH 10 | PHX | INDY DNQ | MIL | DET DNQ | POR 22 | CLE 12 | MEA 20 | TOR 13 | MCH | DEN 23 | VAN | MDO 23 | ROA 25 | NAZ | LAG 14 | 25th | 4 | [22] |
| 1992 | Hall/VDS Racing | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY DNQ | DET | POR | MIL | NHA | TOR | MCH | CLE | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | 40th | 0 | [23] | ||
| Chip Ganassi Racing | LAG 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Hemelgarn Racing | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY 22 | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | NHA | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | 42nd | 0 | [24] | ||
| Dick Simon Racing | LAG 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Project Indy | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY DNQ | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LAG | NC | – | [25] |
Despite Theys apparent dominance, Mike Groff led the championship table by eight points going into the last race and all he had to do was finish second to Theys to clinch the title. Theys duly won but Groff was beaten down into fourth by none other than Johnson himself, the 1985 champion returning to the series for the last three races in the same RT5/84 that he and Arie Luyendyk had won the previous two championships.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | USFormula Super Vee Champion 1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | ARS Champion 1987 | Succeeded by |
