Árón Taylor-Smith starred once again in the British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill last weekend [10-11 August], qualifying on the front row before scoring another two Independent victories to extend his points lead.
The UK’s premier motorsport series headed north after a two-week break for its annual Scottish sojourn, touching down at Knockhill. Situated just north of Edinburgh, the 1.2-mile Fife circuit is renowned as something of a ‘rollercoaster’, characterised by its extreme changes in gradient, mixture of high and medium-speed corners and the heavy braking zone into Taylor’s Hairpin at the end of the lap.
It’s a real ‘drivers’ circuit’ and, with uncharacteristically sunny skies overhead, Árón Taylor-Smith and his Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing-run Vauxhall Astra turned up the heat against one of the most competitive fields in world motorsport.
Having shown top-five pace throughout both practice sessions, then cleared both knockout stages in qualifying by a comfortable margin, Árón Taylor-Smith took on a starring role in the Quick Six Shootout, missing out on pole position by an agonising 0.035 seconds. That effort did, however, secure the Dubliner his first front row qualifying start in the BTCC since the 2015 season finale at Brands Hatch GP, yet another indicator that the one-lap performance unlocked in the Astra has put Árón Taylor-Smith’s Independent outfit firmly among the Manufacturer entries, in terms of pace.
In front of a packed crowd and millions more on ITV4 on Sunday, Árón Taylor-Smith put in another series of gutsy drives to convert that qualifying promise into two Independent wins – bringing his tally up to an impressive 14 from 21 races in 2024.
Having made a lightning start in the opening race and settled into second behind pole-sitter Turkington on the run down to Duffus Dip for the first time, Árón Taylor-Smith was forced to turn his attention to the sister BMW of Morgan behind as the race wore on, on a circuit well-suited to its rear-wheel drive traction. He held firm with the UK’s widest Vauxhall Astra despite sustained pressure, until one moment after being bumped off-line a few laps from home allowed both Morgan and Cook’s Toyota to shuffle the 34-year-old back to fourth at the chicane, and there he finished in the final reckoning.
Strategically, the team opted to dispense with the less-favoured medium compound Goodyear tyres in the second race, and Árón Taylor-Smith – like several of his contemporaries – dropped back behind those running the alternate strategy on faster rubber. He still salvaged a credible P11 and was handed a further boost post-race after benefiting from the reverse grid draw, meaning Árón Taylor-Smith would return to the front row – once again second – for the final race of the day.
Another promising start put the #40 among the front-runners after the opening exchanges in a typically boisterous reverse grid contest, but a power steering failure three laps into the race left Árón Taylor-Smith with a near-impossible task. Forced to steer without mechanical assistance on arguably the most gruelling circuit on the calendar, the Irishman valiantly battled through to make it a hat-trick of points in P12, second among the Independents.
The net result of all three races puts Árón Taylor-Smith a comfortable 48 points clear of team-mate Mikey Doble in the Independents Trophy standings and keeps him in the top-ten in the overall championship standings. Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing remain the team to beat in the Independent Teams’ Championship, with a commanding 68-point advantage over their nearest rivals with three events, and nine races to go.
The next three will take place at Donington Park, on the full Grand Prix circuit, over the weekend of 24-25 August.
Árón Taylor-Smith (#40) said: “The highlight of the weekend is undoubtedly qualifying on the front row, just three hundredths of a second from pole position. Especially on a circuit where, last year, we struggled for one-lap pace, this is a great sign that all the work Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing are putting into our development programme is paying dividends.
I’m immensely proud to be up there fighting with the Manufacturer teams on a fortnightly basis now, and that was the case again at Knockhill, even if a few things didn’t go our way. There’s every chance we could have been up on the podium in race one, but I got knocked a little bit off-line heading up to the chicane, and Morgan and Cook were able to squeeze past me – it’s good, old-fashioned touring car racing.
Everything went exactly as planned in race two; we took the pain of the medium tyres, managed our pace as those on the grippier softs naturally went by, and kept ourselves in the frame for the reverse grid draw – and that all worked out perfectly!
Unfortunately, about three laps into the last race, I had a power steering failure. I could feel it starting to go the lap before, and there was nothing to be done except try to manage it as best I could.
I think, without a doubt, it’s physically the toughest thing I have ever done. 21 laps around Knockhill without power steering is nobody’s idea of a good time, and by the end my arms were cramping, I felt sick – it’s not an experience I’d recommend, but I didn’t want to just give in from such a good position.
To come away with more points, especially in the Independents where we’re looking strong now, is hugely satisfying, and I’ve every confidence going to Donington GP. It’s where we really started to unlock something and click with the Astra last season, and we’re by no means done yet.”