Jakub Śmiechowski

Jakub "Kuba" Śmiechowski (born 11 October 1991) is a racing driver from Poland and the LMP2 class winner of the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. He is currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

Early career
After competing in karting, Śmiechowski made his single-seater debut with Kochanski Motorsport in the Italian Formula Renault series in 2009, partaking in three race meetings. He moved into the Formula Renault Northern European Cup the following year. Remaining with Kochanski, the Pole finished seventh in the drivers' standings. In 2011, Śmiechowski switched to his father's team Inter Europol Competition and returned to the NEC series, finishing 12th overall. The two subsequent years saw Śmiechowski contest the NEC two further times, although his finishes would worsen, with 25th place in 2012 and 39th in 2013. During the latter year, Śmiechowski also took part in the Remus Formula Renault 2.0 Cup, where he won the title by taking victory in all six races he participated in.

2014 saw Śmiechowski switching to the BOSS GP championship, which he and Inter Europol would contest with a Dallara GP2/05 as part of the Open class. In his debut season, two race wins and 11 podiums earned the Pole a championship title. He switched to the Formula class in 2015, finishing second in the standings with five victories.

ELMS and V de V Endurance split
In 2016, Śmiechowski stepped into sportscar racing, partnering Jens Petersen in the LMP3 category of the European Le Mans Series. There, a best finish of fifth in the Algarve earned the team tenth in the standings. Śmiechowski reaped more rewards in the V de V Challenge, as he and Martin Hippe won the series LMP3 championship.

Śmiechowski and Inter Europol returned to both championships in 2017. The team saw their results improve, as a maiden podium in Le Castellet earned Śmiechowski and Martin Hippe fifth place in the standings. In the V de V Endurance Series, the Pole retained his title thanks to four podiums including two victories alongside full-time teammate Hendrik Still. Additionally, he raced in the GT & Prototype Challenge that year, finishing second in the LMP3 class.

For the 2018 ELMS season, Śmiechowski and Hippe remained teammates at Inter Europol. They had a breakthrough in terms of accolades, with the team's first win in the category coming at the season-ending Portimão round, which, along with a podium at the Red Bull Ring, propelled the pair up to second place in LMP3. During the same year, Śmiechowski contested his final V de V campaign, where he finished fifth with one win. At the end of the year and going into 2019, the Pole managed to win two races in the Asian Le Mans Series alongside Hippe, and two additional second-place finishes earned the team the AsLMS title - as well as an invitation to the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.

First LMP2 years
2019 would be Śmiechowski's debut season in the LMP2 category, which he and Inter Europol contested in the ELMS. A campaign of struggle was in order, as the No. 34 team could not supersede a best race result of 12th on their path to 17th and second-last in the teams' standings. At Le Mans, Śmiechowski, Nigel Moore, and James Winslow battled past technical gremlins with their Ligier JS P217 to finish 16th in the LMP2 class.

During the 2019-2020 winter, Inter Europol came back to the AsLMS, this time in LMP2. Despite partnering seasoned LMP2 veteran Mathias Beche as well as James Winslow, Śmiechowski and his partners took fifth in the standings, one place behind the sister IEC car.

Śmiechowski partnered René Binder and Matevos Isaakyan in the truncated ELMS campaign, having originally been slated to be joined by Beche. The team scored their best finishes in Le Castellet with seventh in the first race and sixth in August, results which helped IEC to finish 12th overall. In addition, Śmiechowski ran at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he finished 17th in class alongside his ELMS teammates, and drove in two races of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, where the Pole made his first racing appearances in an Oreca 07.

WEC seasons and Le Mans victory
Ahead of 2021, Inter Europol made a permanent move to the FIA World Endurance Championship, fielding one Oreca 07 with Śmiechowski, Cadillac factory driver Renger van der Zande, and Alex Brundle in the lineup. The team experienced a consistent opening season, finishing all but one race in the top five, which included fourth at Monza and fifth at Le Mans. With these results, IEC ended up fifth in the teams' standings.

Remaining in the WEC in 2022, the now team principal Śmiechowski was joined by Brundle and ex-F1 driver Esteban Gutiérrez. A sophomore slump befell the outfit, as the car experienced electrical problems and a damaged clutch at Sebring and Brundle crashed in the wet at Spa. Their fortunes turned slightly after a 13th place in the Le Mans 24h, with a fourth place at Monza being the season highlight. However, IEC missed out on points in the final two rounds, leaving them 11th in the LMP2 table, only ahead of the four Pro-Am lineups. For the 2023 season, Śmiechowski was partnered by former Lamborghini factory driver Albert Costa and third-year LMP2 racer Fabio Scherer. The trio proved that the team had progressed, scoring points finishes in the opening two races before finishing third at Spa. However, the ultimate triumph came at Le Mans, as Inter Europol were able to take victory despite a foot injury for Scherer and radio issues during the final stages, with Śmiechowski being on pace with the majority of other silver-ranked drivers. With further points finishes during the remaining three races, Śmiechowski and his teammates were able to defend second place in the standings.

Racing career summary

 * Season still in progress. † As Śmiechowski was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete BOSS GP results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
 * Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) † Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.