Aron Smith on a high after defiant showing at Brands Hatch

Aron Smith leaves Brands Hatch third in the standings, one point behind the joint-points leaders Jack Goff and Matt Neal, and the top placed of the four Team BMR Volkswagen drivers, having a better weekend then both of his star twice-champion team-mates, with Jason Plato losing out with a puncture in race two, and Colin Turkington struggling with the handling of the Volkswagen CC.

The Irishman was delighted to have beaten the hype, and is confident that he and the team will be a true championship contender this season after two podiums, in a weekend only blighted by an incident with Triple Eight Racing’s Jack Goff in race two.

“I think for myself this is a huge weekend, the hype has been on the other two all through the off-season, so it’s lovely just to come in and do a really good job and prove to the world that I can do this, I’m just so happy,” said Smith to TouringCarTimes. “I’d have loved to have come away leading it, but I’m still really proud, I don’t think anyone would have believed I’d have come away just a point from leading the championship after the first race, so I think it’s really encouraging.”

Reflecting on the performances of his two new team-mates, Smith remarked:
“These guys deserve the hype they have, the years they’ve had in this championship are unbelievable, but I think I can do just as good of a job, so I’m confident in myself for the rest of the year.”

Whether he believes he has something of a home advantage having driven for the team last season, while Plato and Turkington have just moved across from Triple Eight and West Surrey Racing respectively, Smith added:
“We’ve done a lot of testing, these guys are at home, and believe me by the end of the first day of testing, they were on the pace – so they’re at home as much as I am.”