Max Smart looks slightly ill at ease. A couple of his fellow FIA Rally Star drivers are talking about previous experience. He doesn’t have much to add to the chat.
He’s never competed on four wheels.
In fact, he’s never done much on four wheels.
Spying an opportunity to steering the conversation, the bright blue eyes beneath the mop of curly hair light up.
“Man, motocross,” he said, “that’s where I come from. I grew up riding bikes.”
Smart’s immediately engaging, but he’s also switched on and keeps tabs on the dialogue, searching the questions to find a way in.
He’s away.
“Rallying is such a costly sport,” he said. “I competed on bikes and always wanted to make the switch, but how could we afford it? Me and my dad bought a sim rig to race cars on. I always loved the challenge of the stages over the circuits though.
“I don’t know why, but rallying really resonated with me.
“One day, dad called me over. He’d had an email from Motorsport South Africa talking about FIA Rally Star. ‘Check this out, Max! This is unreal… it’s a young driver talent search to win a rally program based out of Europe. And you can start on a rig.'”
Smart takes a moment, thinking back on the speed from that moment to this. This moment, by the way, is the one where he steps aboard a Ford Fiesta Rally3 similar to the one he’ll use on six rallies for the first time. This is the official FIA Rally Star training camp in Sardinia in May.
“It was unreal,” he continued. “Let’s go all-in. So we did. We gave it everything.”
And finished second.
“Yeah, second. That was the first Rally at Home Challenge we did. I had another go. Second again. After that I went to one of the slalom challenges, driving around cones. I’d never done anything on four wheels before, I didn’t go hard enough.”
He went home.
Not long after, there was another email from Motorsport South Africa. This one asked if he’d like to be a wildcard in the South African national final.
Second became first and he stepped on a plane to the all-Africa final. Now it was serious. Now he was fighting for the real deal, the dream. This was for the chance to land one of six slots for year one of Rally Star.
This week’s Rally San Marino is followed by events in Austria, Slovenia, Estonia and Spain before a 2023-concluding run at Lausitz Rallye in Germany in November.
Four of the six will be selected for a fully funded Junior WRC program in 2024.
“There were 29 of us at the [African] final,” he said. “The competition was in Cross Cars and on dirt. I was fourth overnight, but I just felt I could do more. I wanted it so bad. On the second day I did more and I won. I felt so comfortable in the car, it was incredible.
“I’d won. I’d won!
“That changed my life. How the stars had aligned to put me in that car and give me that opportunity. It was unreal.”
But still, at that point, his only encounter with a rally car came with a big reset button and no wheels.
“Four weeks ago in Johannesburg,” he said, answering the question of when he’d driven a rally car for the first time.
“But the biggest thing, the biggest moment was when I saw the Ford Fiesta Rally3 I would be driving. It had my name on the side, my name and the South African flag. That was just crazy! Honestly, that was unbelievable for me. It pushed me even harder.
“I have to give this everything I’ve got.”
This week the six crews (Smart and Abdullah Al-Tawqi, Annia Cilloniz, José Caparo, Romet Jürgenson and Taylor Gill) have been running their cars ahead of the loose-surface Rally San Marino program opener.
“It rained on the test,” Smart told DirtFish. “I felt good. My time in motocross has helped me get used to the wet, taught me how to deal with the changing grip and things like that.
“It’s still quite surreal to think I’m going to be competing on my first ever rally in a couple of days. I’m so fortunate to have Lorcan [Moore, co-driver] with me.”
It’s not just the car that’s new, the same can be said for the partnership in the car.
“We met for the first time at the training week in Sardinia,” he said. Realizing that might make him sound slightly underprepared, he quickly counters… “but we had done some Zoom calls before that.”
They’ve since spent plenty of time together, figuring out a pacenote system for somebody who’s never made, called or listened to a live note before in his life.
“Lorcan’s great,” Smart said. “We’re already having good craic and everything is working well together – I’m super-stoked on the partnership. He’s helping me so much in the car, he has so much knowledge of the sport and on driving. I’m new to this, so having somebody like him is invaluable for me.
“In San Marino, the aim is to get to the finish. It’s my first rally. I want kilometers and I want experience.”
Aged 20, this South African’s story is already compelling. But this is just the beginning. Chapter one.
If nothing else, come Saturday night, he’ll be able to call himself a rally driver.
