Didier Theys

Didier Theys
Didier Theys
	Didier Theys in 1991
Nationality	Belgian
Born	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 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

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results

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 Martin Eric van de Poele	BMW M3	Div.2	481	1st	1st
1988	Ford Texaco Eggenberger Racing Team	Gianfranco Brancatelli Bertrand Gachot	Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth	Div.3	506	DNF	DNF
1989	BMW Belgium	Marc Duez Steve 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

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]
1987	Truesports Co.															MIA 17			30th	6	^[18]
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]
1990	A. J. Foyt Enterprises																LAG 12		18th	15	^[21]
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]
1992	Chip Ganassi Racing																LAG 13		40th	0	^[23]
1993	Hemelgarn Racing	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY 22	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ			42nd	0	^[24]
1993	Dick Simon Racing																LAG 15		42nd	0	^[24]
1994	Project Indy	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG		NC	–	^[25]

References

^ "Pilote des 24 heures du Mans : Didier Maurice Theys". www.24h-en-piste.com (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ Belgium. "Didier Theys «". Oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ "Sports-car ace Didier Theys retires from competition". Autoweek.com. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ O’Malley, J: "Daytona 24 Hours", David Bull Publishing, pps. 377 and 384.
^ "12 Hours of Sebring Winners / Sebring 12h >>> MotorSports Etc". MotorSports Etc. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ Hyde, C: "Grand American Road Racing Yearbook 2002", Stalker International Editions, p. 129
^ "24 h spa". Total24hours.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ "Le Mans Register – 1999". Formula2.net. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford 2006 Media Guide, Champ Car, p. 236
^ Davidson, D. and Shaffer, R: "Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500", Crash Media Group Ltd., pps. 359, 360, 361.
^ O’Malley, J: "Daytona 24 Hours", David Bull Publishing, p. 377
^ O’Malley, J: "Daytona 24 Hours", David Bull Publishing, p. 384
^ "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.
^ della Cava, Marco R. (21 March 2012). "Two days, seven supercars, 4,000 hp: The ultimate driving experience". Yahoo! News.
^ Sky Brown, Laura. "Take a Ferrari Driving Adventure With DrivingXllence". edmunds Inside Line.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "Didier Theys – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "Didier Theys – 1988 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "Didier Theys – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "Didier Theys – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "Didier Theys – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "Didier Theys – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "Didier Theys – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
^ "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

[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] 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.

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v t Winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona
run as the Daytona 3 Hour Continental (1962–63) Daytona 2000 (1964–65) 6 Hours of Daytona (1972) 24 Hours of Daytona (1966–71 / 1973 / 1975–present)
Five-time	Hurley Haywood Scott Pruett
Four-time	Peter Gregg Pedro Rodríguez Rolf Stommelen Bob Wollek
Three-time	João Barbosa Derek Bell Hélio Castroneves Scott Dixon Christian Fittipaldi Butch Leitzinger Juan Pablo Montoya Brian Redman Memo Rojas Andy Wallace
Two-time	Filipe Albuquerque Max Angelelli Mauro Baldi Tom Blomqvist Terry Borcheller Elliott Forbes-Robinson A. J. Foyt Al Holbert Kamui Kobayashi Jan Lammers Ken Miles Simon Pagenaud John Paul Jr. Lloyd Ruby Scott Sharp Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor Wayne Taylor Didier Theys Al Unser Jr. Renger van der Zande
One-time	Allmendinger Alonso Amon J. Andretti Ma. Andretti Ballot-Léna Bandini Barber Beretta Bergmeister Bernhard Boesel Bouchut Bourdais Boutsen Braun Briscoe Brown Brundle Buckler Cameron Campbell Collard Dalziel Derani Dismore D. Donohue M. Donohue Dupuy Durán Duxbury Dyson Elford Fellows Field Fitzpatrick Franchitti Fréon García Garretson Gentilozzi Gordon Graves Gurney Hand Hasemi Helmick Henn Herrmann Hezemans Hill Hoshino Ickx Jarvis Jelinski Joest D. Jones P. J. Jones Kanaan Kimball Kinnunen Kneifel Krages Larson Lässig Lavaggi Law Lienhard Luyendyk Martin McMurray Mears Merl Millen Moran Moretti Nasr Neerpasch Negri Newgarden Nielsen O'Connell Oliver Ongais Pace Papis C. Parsons Paul Sr. Pescarolo Pew Pilgrim B. Rahal G. Rahal Rice Robinson Rockenfeller Rossi Schneider Schrom Siffert Suzuki Unser Sr. Van der Merwe Van Overbeek Weaver Wendlinger Werner Wheldon Wilson

v t Winners of the 12 Hours of Sebring
Six-time	Tom Kristensen
Five-time	Rinaldo Capello
Four-time	Frank Biela Pipo Derani Allan McNish
Three-time	Hans-Joachim Stuck Mario Andretti Marco Werner
Two-time	Bob Akin Sébastien Bourdais Geoff Brabham Derek Daly Loïc Duval Andy Evans Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio II Olivier Gendebien Hurley Haywood Hans Herrmann Phil Hill Al Holbert Jacky Ickx Stefan Johansson Nicolas Lapierre JJ Lehto Alex Lynn Emanuele Pirro Brian Redman Jordan Taylor Eric van de Poele Johannes van Overbeek Fermín Vélez Andy Wallace Phil Walters
One-time	Aïello Aitken Alboreto Baker Baldi Bamber Barbosa Barbour Behra Bernhard Bianchi Bomarito Bonnier Gary Brabham Brown Castellotti Collard Collins Curran Daigh Dalmas Davidson de Narváez Delétraz Dumas Dyer Earl Elford Fässler Fitch Fittipaldi Fitzpatrick Foyt Franchitti Frisselle Garretson Gartner Gené Giunti Gray Gregg Gurney Hall Hawthorn Helmick Herbert Herta Heyer Hunter-Reay Jani Jarvis Kaffer Keyser Kulok Larrousse Leven Lloyd Ludwig Luyendyk Maglioli Mass McFarlin McLaren Mendez Miles Millen Moffat Moretti Morton Moss Mullen Müller Nasr Nierop O'Connell Oliver Pace Panis Parkes Paul Jr. Paul Sr. Pescatori Peter Pruett Rahal Robinson Rojas Ruby Scarfiotti H. Sharp S. Sharp Siffert Sims Surtees R. Taylor W. Taylor Theys Tincknell Tréluyer Vaccarella Vautier Wollek Woods Wurz