Le Mans Series

Tom Kimber-Smith to drive for Embassy at Spa

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

Tom Kimber-Smith, the talented 23 year old from Henley will join Embassy Racing at this weekend’s Le Mans Series 1000 kilometres of Spa. Confirmed to be paired in the 46 WF01 with Joey Foster, Tom has limited experience of prototypes, but in his only LMP2 drive to date, he qualified for the 2007 Silverstone round of the LMS in class pole, 4th overall and brought the Zytek car home in second place – an amazing achievement in anyone’s book and a positive indication of his huge ability.

With Mario Haberfeld not being in a position to drive for Embassy at Spa, Tom is being given his chance to line up amongst some of the world’s best sportscar drivers, be part of one of the most exciting teams in the series and race in what must be one of the youngest driver combinations ever seen on the LMS grid.

On the decision, Team Principal Jonathan France said:
“I have been an admirer of Tom’s driving ability for some time. Certainly his performance in the Zytek car at last year’s Silverstone round stood out and his win at Le Mans in the Panoz in 2006 confirmed my thoughts that he has what it takes to be a world class endurance racer. I am delighted that he is joining us at Spa and I think he and Joey will make a formidable pairing.”

The decision to give Tom the drive also revives a partnership from 2005, when Embassy team manager, Jody Firth, drove with Tom for JLR Team in Formula Renault. The two are good friends and this should help with integrating Tom into the team quickly.
Embassy travels to Spa on the back of scoring their first ever points in the LMS as constructors. With Mario’s absence, 46 car regular Jonny Kane will move into the 45 WF01 to join Warren Hughes.