John Smith (racing driver, born 1952)

John Smith (born 12 August 1952, Sydney) was a racing driver from Australia, active from 1970 to 1994. As of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, Smith is the last Australian driver to have finished on the podium of the Australian Grand Prix in 1983, prior to it joining the world championship calendar in 1985.^[1]

The son of a car dealer, Smith originally raced a Mini Cooper before moving to Formula Vee single-seaters in 1974. In 1975 he bought a Rennmax Formula Ford^[2] and was the 1977 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series champion,^[3] having been runner-up the previous year.^[4]

In 1979, Allan Grice put Smith in contact with privateer Holden Torana driver Ralph Radburn for his debut in the Bathurst 1000, and the duo came an unlikely third. As a result of Smith's efforts, he was placed with Grice the following year.^[5]

Smith focussed on single seaters over the next few years, winning the 1981 Australian Formula 2 Championship in a Ralt RT1^[6] and finishing as runner-up in the 1983 Australian Drivers' Championship in a Ralt RT4.^[7] He was also runner-up in the 1983 Australian Grand Prix.^[8]

From 1985 to 1988, Smith's activities were mostly in the Australian Touring Car Championship, driving for Toyota, although without any significant success; he returned to the series in Toyotas in 1990 and 1993. At the end of 1988, he took part in the Sandown Park Supersprint, the final round of the 1988 World Sportscar Championship, sharing an ADA with Arthur Abrahams, and finished 7th.^[9]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• John Smith career summary at DriverDB.com
• John Smith driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• John Smith profile at Racing Years
• John Smith profile at The Third Turn