Shaun Watson-Smith (born 6 February 1970 in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

) is a South African racing driver who has mainly raced in

Touring Cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

. He first entered the national production car championship in 1991, winning the overall championship a year later in 1992. In 1994 he got a works drive for the

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

team, helping to develop the new car. He was class B champion in 1995 driving his Opel two-litre

Astra Astra (Latin for "stars") may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became t ...

and also won his debut race in the South African Touring Car Championship. After finishing third in class in 1996, he went on to dominate the championship winning the title in 1997 and 1998. In 1999 he drove in the South African Touring Car Championship, finishing tenth on points in a Petronas

Opel Vectra The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car (large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in Sedan (automobile), saloon, hatchback and Station wagon, estate (from model year 1997 onwards ...

. He went on to finish second in the final full year of the championship. From 2001 through to 2003, he raced in the WesBank V8 Series, driving an

Opel Astra The Opel Astra is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) developed and produced by the German automaker Opel since 1991, currently at its sixth generation. It was first launched in September 1991 as a direct replacement to the Opel Kade ...

. He never raced a full season, but won several selected races that he drove in. In 2004 he got his big break in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

driving a works Proton Impian for Petronas Syntium Proton, alongside teammate

Fariqe Hairuman Fariqe Hairuman (born 10 March 1983) is a Malaysian race car driver. BTCC Fariqe is possibly best known as a driver for Team Petronas Syntium Proton (Team PSP) in the British Touring Car Championship in 2004. ATCC He is also known for having ...

. He impressed many people with his driving and pace that season, but the team was under-funded and the car was well off the pace of the other works teams. He placed fourteenth on points and at the end of the season Proton withdrew from the championship and he returned to South Africa.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap - 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap - 1 point awarded all races)

External links

BTCC Pages Profile.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson-Smith, Shaun South African racing drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Gqeberha