Aron Taylor-Smith salvages points from character-building Brands Hatch

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Aron Taylor-Smith salvaged precious points from an otherwise character-building weekend [10-11 May] in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK driver arrived at the 1.2-mile Kent venue keen to move on from a tough start to the 2025 campaign at Donington Park two weeks prior, in which technical problems hampered his efforts on board the #40 Toyota Corolla GR Sport.

After a solid opening practice session, in which Taylor-Smith banked valuable laps on the hard compound Goodyear tyre, a gear selection issue sidelined him for the second. Heading into qualifying with no running on the softer tyre versus the competition, the Dubliner could only manage P18 on the grid.

Resilience has been a ‘buzz word’ for Taylor-Smith’s efforts in the UK’s premier touring car championship in recent years, and race day dawned with the 35-year-old in buoyant mood, ready to get his elbows out and rescue as much as possible from the weekend.

A lightning start in the opening contest gave the reigning BTCC Independents Champion a platform to move forwards. In a typically frenetic start to the day’s racing, Taylor-Smith came away with P16, just shy of adding to his points tally.

He would improve again in race two, moving up another position to finish P15, and repeated the feat in the reverse-grid finale despite being on the unfavoured Hard tyre to make it two points finishes from a possible three on an otherwise tricky trip to the Indy circuit.

The next three rounds of the 2025 BTCC season will be held at Snetterton, Norfolk on 24-25 May.

Aron Taylor-Smith (#40) said:

“It’s obviously frustrating when the weekend doesn’t go as we’d planned, but the important thing is to remain together as a team, keep our standards high and work through the problems.

“An issue in practice cost us some running, which had a knock-on effect in terms of our qualifying performance, and then that has a knock-on effect on what we’re able to fight for on race day. This is such a competitive championship, that even the smallest issue can have a big impact.

“I did my best to put on a bit of a show today, and we were able to come away with some valuable points, so at least we aren’t leaving empty-handed for all of our efforts.

“I always try to maintain a positive outlook. I believe in myself, the team around me at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK and in this Toyota Corolla GR Sport. Everybody has a rough weekend or two in the BTCC every season; hopefully that’s all our bad luck used up, and we can start to claw some ground back at Snetterton.”