Didier Theys

Didier Theys
Didier Theys in 1991
Nationality	Belgian
Born	(1956-10-19) 19 October 1956 (age 67)

Didier Maurice Theys ^[1] (born 19 October 1956 ^[2] ) is a Belgian sports car driver. ^[3] He is a two-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona (1998 and 2002); ^[4] a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring (1998); ^[5] the Sports Racing Prototype driver champion of the Grand-American Road Racing Association (2002) ^[6] and the winner of the 24 Hours of Spa (1987 in a factory BMW). ^[7] He was also the polesitter (1996) and a podium finisher at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1997, 1998 and 1999). The podium finish in 1999 was a third overall in the factory Audi R8R with co-drivers Emanuele Pirro and Frank 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.

Formula racing

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. Bosch Super Vee championship in 1986; and the American Racing Series (now Indy Lights) championship in 1987. He was also successful in the European Formula Three Championship and Formula 2 in the 1980s. He finished third in the Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix in 1985.

Theys competed in the CART Indy Car Series from 1987 to 1993 with 47 career starts, ^[9] including the Indianapolis 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.

IMSA

Theys ran the IMSA GT Championship in 1995 on a Ferrari 333SP. He finished fourth in 1996, 11th in 1997 and 6th in the series' final season in 1998.

1998 season

Theys' 1998 victories at Daytona and Sebring came in the Kevin Doran-prepared MOMO Ferrari with co-drivers Mauro Baldi, Arie Luyendyk and Giampiero Moretti. ^[11] His 2002 Daytona victory came in the Doran Lista Dallara Judd with co-drivers Baldi, Fredy Lienhard and Max Papis. ^[12]

His 1998 season was a record-setter, as in addition to winning Daytona and Sebring, Theys also won the Six Hours of Watkins Glen.

He also finished second overall in the FIA Sportscar Championship that year, winning at Paul Ricard, France.

2000–2002 seasons

In addition to his Grand-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.

After 2002

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 the Monza 1,000 km race in the LMP2 category in 2007 ^[13] and a similar event at the Nürburgring in 2005 in a Lola Judd. He finished his pro driving career in the Horag Racing-prepared Lista Office Porsche 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 a Maserati MC 12 for Doran Racing in the ALMS in 2007, an effort that stunned the GT1 class when it beat the factory Corvettes to win the pole at the Petit Le Mans that year.

Accomplishments

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.

Post-retirement

Theys currently works as a racing driver coach and consultant. He is also the Driving Director of DrivingXllence Archived 20 August 2012 at the Wayback 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]}

Personal

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.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1982	WM Esso	Jean-Daniel Raulet Michel Pignard	WM P82-Peugeot	C	127	DNF	DNF
1983	WM Secateva	Jean-Daniel Raulet Michel Pignard	WM P83-Peugeot	C	102	DNF	DNF
1985	Brun Motorsport	Walter Brun Joël Gouhier	Porsche 962C	C1	304	DNF	DNF
1986	Brun Motorsport	Thierry Boutsen Alain Ferté	Porsche 956	C1	89	DNF	DNF
1988	Blaupunkt Joest Racing	David Hobbs Franz Konrad	Porsche 962C	C1	380	5th	5th
1993	Team Paduwa	Harald Grohs Jean-Paul Libert	Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cup	GT	8	DNF	DNF
1996	Joest Racing	Michele Alboreto Pierluigi Martini	TWR Porsche WSC-95	LMP1	300	DNF	DNF
1997	Moretti Racing Inc.	Gianpiero Moretti Max Papis	Ferrari 333 SP	LMP	321	6th	3rd
1998	Moretti Racing Inc.	Gianpiero Moretti Mauro Baldi	Ferrari 333 SP	LMP	311	14th	3rd
1999	Audi Sport Team Joest	Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8R	LMP	360	3rd	2nd
2000	Mopar Team Oreca	Jeffrey van Hooydonk Didier André	Reynard 2KQ-LM-Mopar	LMP900	292	20th	10th
2001	Champion Racing	Johnny Herbert Ralf Kelleners	Audi R8	LMP900	81	DNF	DNF
2002	Riley & Scott Racing	Marc Goossens Jim Matthews	Riley & Scott Mk III C-Élan	LMP900	189	DNF	DNF

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Formula Super Vee

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	VW Bertils	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
Source: [16] [17]

PPG Indycar Series

(key) (Races in bold 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
	Granatelli Racing												MDO 11	ROA 11	NAZ 21	LAG 17
1990	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]

References

• Didier Theys' IndyCar statistics
• Didier Theys' ARS (Indy Lights) statistics

1. "Pilote des 24 heures du Mans : Didier Maurice Theys". www.24h-en-piste.com (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2023.
2. Belgium. "Didier Theys «". Oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
3. "Sports-car ace Didier Theys retires from competition". Autoweek.com. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
4. O’Malley, J: "Daytona 24 Hours", David Bull Publishing, pps. 377 and 384.
5. "12 Hours of Sebring Winners / Sebring 12h >>> MotorSports Etc". MotorSports Etc. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
6. Hyde, C: "Grand American Road Racing Yearbook 2002", Stalker International Editions, p. 129
7. "24 h spa". Total24hours.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
8. "Le Mans Register – 1999". Formula2.net. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
9. Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford 2006 Media Guide, Champ Car, p. 236
10. Davidson, D. and Shaffer, R: "Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500", Crash Media Group Ltd., pps. 359, 360, 361.
11. O’Malley, J: "Daytona 24 Hours", David Bull Publishing, p. 377
12. O’Malley, J: "Daytona 24 Hours", David Bull Publishing, p. 384
13. "Reflecting on the career of Didier Theys – John Dagys – Motorsports Journalist". Thefastline.net. 3 March 2009. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
14. della Cava, Marco R. (21 March 2012). "Two days, seven supercars, 4,000 hp: The ultimate driving experience". Yahoo! News.
15. Sky Brown, Laura. "Take a Ferrari Driving Adventure With DrivingXllence". edmunds Inside Line.
16. "1986 SCCA Robert Bosch Formula Super Vee Championship Didier Theys - Champion". champcarstats.com. Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
17. "US Formula Super Vee 1986". oldracingcars.com. Old Racing Cars. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2021. 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.
18. "Didier Theys – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
19. "Didier Theys – 1988 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
20. "Didier Theys – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
21. "Didier Theys – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
22. "Didier Theys – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
23. "Didier Theys – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
24. "Didier Theys – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
25. "Didier Theys – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.

External links

• Didier Theys career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ken Johnson	US Formula Super Vee Champion 1986	Succeeded by Scott Atchison
Preceded by Fabrizio Barbazza	ARS Champion 1987	Succeeded by Jon Beekhuis