Dean Smith Q and A

24 June 2010

2009 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Dean Smith competes in his third GP3 race of the season this weekend with Carlin. Here, the British racer talks about his season so far and his expectations ahead of the Valencia rounds this weekend.

How has the season gone so far?
It's been ok. I missed the first two day test but I got to grips with the car pretty quickly when I did test if for the first time and I've already formed a good relationship with my engineer. GP3 is a very competitive championship; it's one of those series where pretty much every driver is a contender for a podium as it's such a level playing field. I think we've seen something like nine different drivers on the podium from 12 races. I should have been on the podium before now and I would have been in Istanbul if it hadn't been for a problem we had on the last lap - so that's pretty frustrating. But we've shown that we're quick, we just need everything to come together so we can start delivering regular top three results.

Are you confident ahead of this weekend's race in Valencia?
Yeah I'm really looking forward to it. We had good test at the Valencia circuit last week and I finished third quickest there. We know we have a good car and I think we've shown good consistency so far this season - we're always among the front runners. If we can continue that his weekend, and combined with a bit of good luck we should at least be looking at a podium.

What do you think of the GP3 car?
It's a nice car; I imagine it's a good stepping stone up to the GP2 car. It's quite powerful in comparison to the grip it has. Its good experience to drive a car with a paddle shift gearbox too as it prepares you for the higher formulas. And of course we're racing on the European F1 circuits as well which is a great learning experience.

What's it like to race in front of the F1 teams?
It's a good experience actually and it does make a difference. Obviously I want to do my best whatever the circumstances are or whichever race event it is, but I think it maybe makes you push even harder when you know so many people in the industry are watching.

Winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award must have bee one of the highlights of your career. Do you think it's helped you this season?
It was an amazing experience to win the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. The whole process was really tense and the atmosphere on the night is just incredible. It means so much to win it. As a driver - especially one with a limited budget - getting that type of attention can make the difference between getting a drive for a season or not. I think winning the award probably gave Carlin and my sponsors this year added confidence in my ability.

You're racing this season with support from the Racing Steps Foundation and Tomax. What does it mean to gain that kind of support?
It means a great deal, obviously. It would have been extremely hard to have put together a sizeable budget to race this season. We thought F2 might just be possible, so it was a real surprise when the deal to do GP3 came off thanks to the RSF and Tomax.

There are still eight events left on the GP3 calendar. Are there any in particular that you're looking forward to?
I think they're all going to be pretty great to be honest! Spa will probably be quite a highlight as it's such a drivers' circuit. And of course Silverstone next month - it will be amazing to race in front of a home crowd at the British Grand Prix. I think the atmosphere will be amazing.