NOWRA Hill’s Daniel Smith hasn’t missed a beat on the track in 2018, building on last season’s extraordinary run to the NSW Production Touring Car series title.
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The 21-year-old, who was the youngest ever driver to claim the production touring cars outright state title, knew he couldn’t rest on his laurels and had to step up his game again this season.
”My preparations for this year involved training hard at Shoalhaven Crossfit and sticking to a good balanced diet,” Smith said.
“In the off-season, I was also at the race track twice a month working as a driver trainer, doing laps in the passenger and driver seats – helping me to better myself as a race driver.
“All these were done with an aim of trying and defend my championship title from last year in the NSW Production Touring Car series.
“As well as that, I’m aiming to go two better and win the Australian Pulsar racing series.”
All this hard work paid off, as Smith’s season kicked off recently at the Sydney Motorsport Park – where he placed first in all three races.
“I raced in my New Image Kitchens/Trackschool prepared Honda Integra in the NSW Production Touring car series, with temperatures well over 30 degrees on both days – it was a test for fitness,” he said.
“Qualifying went to plan and we qualified first in class and 10th outright, with second place qualifying 19th.
“The three sprint races where great, everyone left plenty of racing room and some good racing was had.
“Racing with the faster class cars is difficult as they have more horsepower, so it takes a lot of patience to try and make the right move.
“I had some good battles with Evos, v8s and BMWs.
“The aim was to keep the racing clean and keep a few cars between me and second in class – we came home with a straight car and a good score of points for the first round.”
Before Smith hits the track again, for round two at Sandown Raceway – a track he has never drove on before, he competed in the Australian Pulsar Racing Series (APRA).
“In qualifying, I finished in third position – it was split into an A and B group, with a total of 33 cars for the weekend each group of 16 cars got a 10 minute session,” Smith said.
“I allowed myself a nice gap to the car in front and qualified third, having raced the Honda the weekend before, I had to adapt to the Pulsar fast.”
Following his sharp qualifying, Smith claimed three podium finishes in his three races.
“Race one ran smoothly, I finished in third position – I threw everything I had at the car in front but couldn't close the gap,” he said.
“In race two, I got a perfect jump off the line and claimed second place off the start – I then pressured first place looking for an opportunity to pass for the next seven laps, before finishing second.”
The Australian Pulsar series is a very close series every car is equal in speed meaning it comes down to driver and setup – which was evident in race three.
“During race three, starting from the outside with the rain coming down, we made a setup change to better suit the rain,” Smith said.
“I made another perfect start, pulling a gap on second and third position, as I came down into turn seven, another competitor made a desperate move up the inside.
“He out braked himself and ran wide on the exit, off the corner and I took the opportunity and moved up along side, contact was made at his fault.
“The next corner, I was in the lead until turn 10 where the car slid out from beneath me – I kept it on the track but lost two positions.
“The race was then red flagged due to another incident but when is restarted, I had another opportunity, starting from second position again, but the track had dried out by this time, meaning our setup was a little off from where we should have been.
“I got off to another great start before being passed by third, finishing the race in third place.
“Overall the weekend was perfect, we are always learning and will comeback faster next time – we scored some good points towards the overall championship.”
Smith, who thanks all his sponsors, next hits the track on May 12.