Formula racing

Theys won the Belgium Karting championship in 1977. Later he competed in several feeder formulae: he won several Formula Ford championships in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the U.S. Bosch Super Vee championship in 1986; and the American Racing Series (now Indy Lights) championship in 1987. He was also successful in the European Formula Three Championship and Formula 2 in the 1980s. He finished third in the Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix in 1985.

Theys competed in the CART Indy Car Series from 1987 to 1993 with 47 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 three times (1989, 1990 and 1993). He finished in the top ten 10 times in CART events, and his best career finish in that series was a third position in Miami in 1988.

IMSA

Theys ran the IMSA GT Championship in 1995 on a Ferrari 333SP. He finished fourth in 1996, 11th in 1997 and 6th in the series' final season in 1998.

1998 season

Theys' 1998 victories at Daytona and Sebring came in the Kevin Doran-prepared MOMO Ferrari with co-drivers Mauro Baldi, Arie Luyendyk and Giampiero Moretti. His 2002 Daytona victory came in the Doran Lista Dallara Judd with co-drivers Baldi, Fredy Lienhard and Max Papis.

His 1998 season was a record-setter, as in addition to winning Daytona and Sebring, Theys also won the Six Hours of Watkins Glen.

He also finished second overall in the FIA Sportscar Championship that year, winning at Paul Ricard, France.

2000-2002 seasons

In addition to his Grand-Am driver championship in 2002, Theys finished third in the driver point standings in that series in 2001 and was the runner-up in 2000. He had four victories in his championship 2002 season, and established the largest margin of victory in series history in winning the race at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec from the pole that year.

After 2002

Prior to retiring from pro racing in March 2009, Theys also competed in the Le Mans Series in Europe with Horag Racing from 2005 through 2008, winning the Monza 1,000 km race in the LMP2 category in 2007 and a similar event at the Nürburgring in 2005 in a Lola Judd. He finished his pro driving career in the Horag Racing-prepared Lista Office Porsche RS Spyder in the Le Mans Series’ LMP2 division in 2008, finishing second in class at Spa and Silverstone, third at Monza and winning the Michelin Energy Challenge that season.

Theys also drove a Maserati MC 12 for Doran Racing in the ALMS in 2007, an effort that stunned the GT1 class when it beat the factory Corvettes to win the pole at the Petit Le Mans that year.

Accomplishments

Upon his retirement from driving professionally, Theys had finished on the podium 61 times in sports car races all over the world, with 18 victories, 22 second-place finishes and 21 third-place finishes through the end of the 2008 season. He has the most professional victories of anyone in a Ferrari 333 SP with 10.

He received the prestigious Driver of the Year Award in his native Belgium in 2002.

Post-retirement

Theys currently works as a racing driver coach and consultant. He is also the Driving Director of DrivingXllence, an automotive event company that allows guests to experience the exhilaration and adrenaline of being behind the wheel of the world’s newest and best Supercars.

Personal

Although he never gave up his Belgium citizenship, Theys resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., for many years, and still lives there. That municipality honored him with the keys to the city in honor of his GRAND-AM driver championship and second 24 Hours of Daytona victory. He is married to Florence Richardson.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1982	WMEsso	Jean-Daniel Raulet Michel Pignard	WM P82-Peugeot	C	127	DNF	DNF
1983	WM Secateva	Jean-Daniel Raulet Michel Pignard	WM P83-Peugeot	C	102	DNF	DNF
1985	Brun Motorsport	Walter Brun Joël Gouhier	Porsche 962C	C1	304	DNF	DNF
1986	Brun Motorsport	Thierry Boutsen Alain Ferté	Porsche 956	C1	89	DNF	DNF
1988	Blaupunkt Joest Racing	David Hobbs Franz Konrad	Porsche 962C	C1	380	5th	5th
1993	Team Paduwa	Harald Grohs Jean-Paul Libert	Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cup	GT	8	DNF	DNF
1996	Joest Racing	Michele Alboreto Pierluigi Martini	TWR Porsche WSC-95	LMP1	300	DNF	DNF
1997	Moretti Racing Inc.	Gianpiero Moretti Max Papis	Ferrari 333 SP	LMP	321	6th	3rd
1998	Moretti Racing Inc.	Gianpiero Moretti Mauro Baldi	Ferrari 333 SP	LMP	311	14th	3rd
1999	Audi Sport Team Joest	Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8R	LMP	360	3rd	2nd
2000	Mopar Team Oreca	Jeffrey van Hooydonk Didier André	Reynard 2KQ-LM-Mopar	LMP900	292	20th	10th
2001	Champion Racing	Johnny Herbert Ralf Kelleners	Audi R8	LMP900	81	DNF	DNF
2002	Riley & Scott Racing	Marc Goossens Jim Matthews	Riley & Scott Mk III C-Élan	LMP900	189	DNF	DNF

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

PPG Indycar Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1987	Newman Teamworks	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MCH	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ	LAG				30th	6
	Truesports Co.															MIA
1988	Dick Simon Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA			15th	29
1989	Arciero Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL														21st	9
	Hemelgarn Racing					DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	POC
	Granatelli Racing												MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
1990	Granatelli Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ			18th	15
	A. J. Foyt Enterprises																LAG
1991	Leader Card Racing	SRF	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	25th	4
1992	Pennzoil	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MCH	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG		40th	0
1993	Delta Faucets	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ			42nd	0
	Kinko's																LAG
1994	Project Indy	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG		NC	-
1995	Hemelgarn Racing	MIA	SRF	PHX	LBH	NAZ	INDY 1	MIL	DET	POR	ROA	TOR	CLE	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	LAG	NC	-

1 Did not drive

[ Source: Wikipedia ]