CGS Civils embarks on an exciting new chapter to celebrate ten years in business as
the civil engineering company steps into the pinnacle of British Motorsport to be
part of Árón Taylor-Smith’s 2023 British Touring Car Championship campaign. What
most people don’t realise is that Árón Taylor-Smith is actually a qualified structural
engineer, which makes CGS Civils a perfect fit for his racing program. Taylor-Smith
graduated as a structural engineer in 2012 and the analytical skills learnt in the
engineering world have frequently been on display as part of his racing program;
Taylor-Smith commented: “I firmly believe having an engineering background has
helped me succeed in the motorsport world. There is a huge overlap in what we study
on race weekends to what is thought in university and it is with great pride that I get
to welcome CGS into the BTCC to share in this. I am really looking forward to showing
the entire team a more of a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the BTCC and I can’t thank
Chris enough for choosing to join my program.”
The Chichester based company with expertise in all civil engineering fields such as
drainage and highway design has long been a fan of the BTCC and new for 2023 will
be the company’s first presence on the grid with Árón Taylor-Smith. Taylor-Smith,
who is a multiple race winner in the BTCC, returned to the championship in 2021 at
the wheel of the all new Cupra which was designed and built by Kent based team,
Team HARD Racing. The Irishman has accumulated nearly twenty podiums during his
illustrious career in the BTCC and to this day remains the only Irishman to win a race
in the championship in over thirty years. The thirty-three year old debuted in the
series in 2012 and won a race in his first season, immediately marking him as one to
watch for the future. Taylor-Smith continued in the BTCC for a subsequent five years
before taking a sabbatical to focus on a GT program throughout Europe. 2021 saw
the fans favourite return to the BTCC for his seventh season to develop a brand new
car and he did not disappoint upon his return to the championship and continued to
build on this in 2022.
Chris Slade commented: “Everyone at CGS Civils have always been fans of the BTCC
and in fact, we regularly make trips to our local races. We were blown away with
Árón’s attention to detail when he first spoke to us about a potential BTCC program,
it was clear that he had an engineering background! We clicked straight away and
we are already looking forward to being trackside at the first race in Donington. In
2023 we celebrate ten years in business and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate
this milestone than joining the BTCC.”
Taylor-Smith proved on a number of occasions throughout the 2022 season that he
is one to watch as he battled the Cupra inside the top ten on a number of occasions
and in fact, proved to be the fasted driver on circuit at certain points throughout the
season. The BTCC is widely renowned as being one of the most competitive touring
car championships in the world with all races being shown live on ITV. New for 2023
will be the CGS Civils branding on-board Taylor-Smith’s BTCC car for the millions of
TV viewers to see as he once again returns to the pinnacle of British Motorsport.
Taylor-Smith commented: “I can’t wait to fly the CGS flag next season. We already
have a number of races in the diary and I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing
them trackside throughout the year. Yes, the BTCC obviously has unrivalled
commercial benefits but more important to me are the people that get to share in
this journey. I can already tell that everyone in CGS will fit right in to my racing
program and it will be great to have them screaming from my garage throughout
next season!”
While we are currently in the depths of the offseason there is still plenty of action
going on ahead of the start of the 2023 season as all teams are in the process of
further developing their BTCC contenders ahead of the first race at Donington on
April 23 rd . The championship ventures nationwide as the countries best drivers’
battle it out. Be sure to keep an eye on Taylor-Smith’s social media channels over the
next few months to be kept up to date on all things BTCC related ahead of the first
race weekend.