Guy Smith on Jamie Davies: My greatest rival

This has to be Jamie Davies. We were fierce rivals in karting in 1988 and that competitiveness only continued on and off until 2004 when we were team-mates at Le Mans and came second in the Audi Team Veloqx R8. We should have won that race. Johnny Herbert put it on pole and we led for most of the way, nearly a lap ahead, until a problem with the rear suspension forced us into the pits. We were only 40 seconds behind the Audi Team Japan car at the end but that’s another story.

“The first time I came across Jamie was at Clay Pigeon in karting. This lad nobody had ever heard of was there and he was right in the mix with us more experienced guys. In the British championships at Wombwell I was leading and on the last lap. With two corners to go, Jamie hit me, pushed me wide and won the race. That was a red rag to a bull. Now we were enemies. He said it was his corner. I said he knocked me off. We respected each other but I lost the championship that day.

“We both went into cars. In ’92 we both did Vauxhall Junior, he won some, I won some. We were just out to beat each other. Then we met in Vauxhall Lotus. Again it was wheel to wheel, the rivalry a bit of a grudge match. We raced hard. I went on to Formula 3 in ’96 with Fortec and there he was again with TWR. We were back at it, both of us winning early on. After that we went our separate ways – I went to America, Jamie went to F3000, and then it was sports cars in 2003. I was at Bentley, he was at Veloqx with the Ferrari 550. When Bentley pulled out I went to Audi UK and, guess what, they put me together with Jamie as my team-mate with Johnny in the R8. We were still arguing about that kart race at Wombwell. We still wanted to beat each other, but there was respect and we so nearly won Le Mans. He was very strong there, incredibly fast, set the fastest lap, and it was only then that I really got to know him.

“As rivals through all those years we were never close. The rivalry was stronger as we didn’t have that bond. Jamie was incredibly determined. He never gave up. In a dogfight he’d take it down to the wire. He took no prisoners, like back in the karts at Wombwell. He was always under the radar, but you could never discount him. Suddenly he’d be there alongside you, like a stealth bomber coming in to attack.

“His low profile might have been his downfall because, if people aren’t talking about you, the drives don’t come. Remember, though, he was Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 1994 when he was winning in Vauxhall Lotus. Jamie was a great rival and we still keep in touch.”

Guy Smith and Jamie Davies head-to-head

Stats taken from the 1996 British Formula 3 Championship