Story for WCD Festival Magazine (French Lick, Ind., Sept. 3-7)
 
 
World-Class Race Car Driver Didier Theys Leads the Way
 
By Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
 
Participants in the first annual World Class Driving Festival this week at 
French Lick needn't be shy about asking Didier Theys for his autograph, as he'll 
happily oblige.
 
He'll probably just laugh if you refer to him as the Leader of the Pack, 
though. 
 
As World Class Driving's official driving director, Theys is often behind the 
wheel of the lead car that participants follow on their test drives. He's 
scheduled to be on hand at the festival this week to do just that and also to 
help participants get acclimated with the wide variety of cars they'll sample.  
He is anxious to answer any questions they might have, and to help them get the 
most out of the experience as possible.
 
Theys, a native of Belgium who has resided for many years in Scottsdale, 
Ariz., recently celebrated his 30th anniversary as a professional race car driver. 
Prior to the start of the 2008 season he had finished on the podium more than 
55 times in sports car racing all over the world, with 18 victories, 19 
second-place finishes and 19 third-place finishes. He is currently competing in the 
LMP2 class of the Le Mans Series (LMS) in Europe, the series from which the 
United States' American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was molded.  
 
This year he is racing a brand-new, red-and-white Porsche RS Spyder sponsored 
by Lista Office and Lista, the worldwide leader in modular storage solutions, 
in the LMS with a Swiss racing team, Horag Racing.  His co-drivers are two 
other veterans, Fredy Lienhard and ex-Formula 1 driver Jam Lammers. The team 
introduced its new car at the ALMS season opener at Sebring, Fla., in March, and 
then went back to Europe to concentrate on its primary focus, the LMS.  
 
Theys commutes between his races in Europe and his duties in America at World 
Class Driving. In addition to the Twelve Hours of Sebring here in the United 
States, this year he is racing in 1,000 Kilometer LMS races at some of the 
most prestigious circuits in Europe, at places like Barcelona, Spain; Monza, 
Italy; Spa, Belgium; Nurburgring, Germany and Silverstone, England.  His race at 
the latter is next weekend, in fact.
 
Theys has always loved cars, especially fast ones.  He is a two-time winner 
of the most prestigious endurance sports car race in North America, the Rolex 
24 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. His first victory 
in that race came in 1998 with Arie Luyendyk, Mauro Baldi and Gianpiero Moretti 
as his co-drivers in a Ferrari 333SP. He has always loved Ferraris, a love 
that grew even deeper with that first Daytona victory which cemented his place 
in endurance sports car history. 
 
When asked what his favorite car was of the five that World Class Driving 
participants tested here at French Link in June, he was quick to point to the 
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.  "Ferrari has been making fine sports cars for many 
years, and there's no substitute for experience," he noted.  "From a pure driving 
standpoint, it's hard to beat."
 
Theys also won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2002.  That time his co-drivers 
were Max Papis, Lienhard and Baldi in a Doran Racing Dallara Judd. Many of his 
racing successes over the years came with Doran Racing, which is headquartered 
in nearby Lebanon, Ohio, near Cincinnati. In addition to the two Rolex 24 
victories, Theys also won the best-attended endurance sports car race in North 
America, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, in 1998 with Baldi and Moretti in a 
Ferrari 333SP fielded by Doran Racing.
 
Theys has been the polesitter at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France 
(1996), and he finished on the podium in that prestigious event driving a 
factory Audi R8R in 1999.  He was the champion of the Grand-Am Rolex Series' top 
class in 2002. He's won endurance races at all sorts of places, like Watkins 
Glen, N.Y.; Paul Ricard, France and Spa in his native land.
 
He's still winning. Last May he, Lienhard and another ex-F1 driver, Eric van 
de Poele, won the prestigious 1,000 Kilometers of Monza, Italy in a Lola Judd. 
 And, just for fun, last year he, Lienhard and Andrea Bertolini beat the 
potent factory Corvette team to earn the GT1 pole at the Petit Le Mans at Road 
Atlanta in a Doran Racing Maserati, and then went on to finish second in class in 
that race.
 
Theys also has an impressive list of open-wheel racing accomplishments since 
he won his first championship, the Belgium Karting Championship, in 1977.  
He's raced in Formula Fords, Formula 3 and Formula 2, and he won the U.S. Super 
Vee Championship in 1986. He won the Indy Lights championship, which is today's 
Firestone Indy Lights Series, the following year. He advanced to CART (now 
IndyCar) in the late eighties and nineties. He was one of the famed 33 starters 
at the Indianapolis 500 three times, competing at the Brickyard some 90 miles 
north of French Lick in 1989, 1990 and 1993.
 
Although he works hard to keep in top physical shape for the demanding job of 
professional race car driver, Theys realizes that someday he'll decide to 
hang up his helmet. Traveling from race to race around the world has been his way 
of life, so it will be a big adjustment. His work with World Class Driving is 
decidedly different from life on the racing circuit, but it still allows him 
to travel and to work with exotic cars and interface with people who share his 
love for them.  His appearances at fan and corporate events as a race car 
driver easily translate to World Class Driving's general and corporate programs 
too.
 
The advice Theys gives in the pre-drive WCD briefings comes from years of 
high-speed experience requiring not just seat belts, but helmets, safety 
harnesses and firesuits.
 
"Be careful of what you ask the car to do, because it will respond 
immediately," Theys pointed out to the participants at French Lick in June. "They're 
sophisticated, expensive cars which require a certain level of finesse, but the 
bottom line is that they're fun to drive."
 
A fan that once asked Theys what his most memorable race was got a similar 
cheerful answer.  "My favorite race is always the last one I won, and my 
favorite car is always the last one I won in" he said.  
 
"When people at the festival think about the best car they've ever driven, I 
hope they'll choose one they drove here at French Lick with World Class 
Driving," he added with a smile.