Rhys Gardiner

Rhys Gardiner Nationality Australian Year Joined 2014 First Race 2014 Masters Series 24 Hours of Le Mans Series Entered Masters Series, World GT, Atlantic Series Current Team(s) Hinss Motorsport Championships {{{Championships}}} Wins {{{Wins}}} Podiums {{{Podiums}}} Poles {{{Poles}}} Fastest Laps {{{Fastest Laps}}}

Masters Series Career (up to July 2015) Debut Year 2014 Associated Teams Smile Power Racing Races 1 Championships 0 Race Wins 1 Podium Finishes 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First Race 24 Hours of Le Mans

World GT Series Career (up to August 2016) Debut Year 2015 Associated Teams Aurora Motorsports Races 4 Championships 0 Race Wins 0 Podium Finishes 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First Race 2015 Brazilian GT Cup

Atlantic Series Career (up to August 2016) Debut Year 2015 Associated Teams Hinss Motorsport Races 9 Championships 0 Race Wins 0 Podium Finishes 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First Race 2015 Grand Prix of Alabama

Rhys Gardiner is an Australian sim racer currently competing in the GPVWC Independent series; for Hinss Motorsport in the 2016 Atlantic Series season.

Early Life and other Sim Racing

Gardiner started life with a trauma injury right at birth. Rough treatment while being delivered resulted in the nerve connections to his right arm being severed. Though a corrective operation at 6 months old reconnected the nerves in a different spot, Gardiner never regained the full use of his right arm. To this effect, he races today with only his left hand on the steering wheel.

Gardiner did not spend his childhood around video games, car culture or auto racing, instead taking up his time with books, creative writing and drawing. He was first introduced to motor racing through Gran Turismo 3, which came bundled with his family's first console (a PlayStation 2) at Christmas 2005. Gardiner then became obsessed with cars and the racing of them, and after collecting many driving games for the PS2, desired the realistic experience on the PC. Gardiner's first PC racing sim was SimBin's RACE 07, purchased in February 2008. After acquiring his first wheel, he eventually entered the online racing sphere proper in July 2008, running club races at RaceDepartment. From then on Gardiner's sim racing scope and competitiveness expanded, and he now competes in many different leagues and disciplines in the Australian and European sim racing communities. He has found much success in endurance racing, helping his iRacing team - Dayco Motorsport - take the 2015 Australian Endurance Championship title.

Career at GPVWC

Rhys Gardiner started his career at GPVWC when he was persuaded by Mike Bell to become part of the Smile Power Racing effort in the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, part of the 2014 Masters Series season. The team, which consisted of Gardiner, Bell, Jesper Nielsen and Fran Lopez (with Lewis McGlade on spotting duty and moral support), won the race. Though he only spent a comparatively short time driving in the race, the fact that he was part of the winning team gave Gardiner his first GPVWC win in only his first race.

Gardiner did not appear at GPVWC again for almost a year, his commitments in other leagues and sims taking priority. However, tempted by the fact that rFactor 2 was being used for the first time, he eventually decided to return to the GPVWC in mid-2015 with a drive in the newly-reformed World GT Series. After missing round 1 due to real life commitments, Gardiner made his full-time GPVWC debut at the 2015 Brazilian GT Cup, alongside Lewis McGlade at Aurora Motorsports. Suitably pleased by the driving experience of the Dallara DW12 Indycar, Gardiner decided at the last minute to also race in the then-new Atlantic Series, driving on his own for Thomas Hinss' team Hinss Motorsport. Eventually, Gardiner finished 9th in the 2015 Atlantic Series standings, with strong midfield finishes and a 4th place at Las Vegas, in spite of retiring at 3 rounds. World GT was less successful, with both Gardiner and his teammate becoming disillusioned with the series, the Australian ending up 14th in the standings.

After another long break, Gardiner returned once again to race in the Atlantic Series' second season for Hinss Motorsports - this time with a teammate, in the form of Wesley Stefano.

Racing Career Results

Masters Series

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	DC	Points
2014	Smile Power Racing	DAY N/A	LEM 1	IND N/A	NOR N/A	BAT N/A

World GT Series

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	DC	Points
2015	Aurora Motorsports	JPN N/A	BRA 9	TUR 10	POR 9	CZE 16	GBR Ret	USA	14th	20

Atlantic Series

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2015	Hinss Motorsport	ALA Ret	IDP 20	ICL 7	VEG 4	LEX Ret	CAR Ret	FLO 11	AMR 6	9th	115

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	DC	Points
2016	Hinss Motorsport	FLO 10	IDP	CAR	ONT	WIS	AMR	10th	20