Árón Smith is set to begin a new chapter in his British Touring Car Championship career making the move to Team BMR for the 2014 season.
Run by newcomer to the championship in 2013 Warren Scott, Smith will be joined by Double British Touring Car Champion Alain Menu for the team’s first full season running more than one car in the championship.
Team BMR will run a duo of heavily revised NGTC Volkswagen Passat CC’s originally built in 2013 by RML and run by Tony Gilham. Since then the team has now changed ownership into the hands of Warren Scott and with a formidable driver line up they are in contention to challenge the manufacturer supported teams for the 2014 championship. Dublin based race winner Smith is feeling very confident about his move to Team BMR for 2014: “I’m really excited to be joining team-owner Warren and of course Alain for the 2014 season. The team itself is relatively new, but the people within the team including Chief Engineer Geoff Kingston and Team Manager Alan Cole are certainly very experienced and this was a major attraction to the team for me.”
The British Touring Car Championship has been enjoying phenomenal growth over the last number of years particularly with the introduction of its new NGTC (Next Generation Touring Car) regulations. Increased numbers of competitors, teams and cars has earned the championship a status of being one of the most competitive in Europe which has been recognised by Alain’s return. “Having Alain as a team-mate this season is going to be an amazing opportunity for me. He’s won this championship twice and come close on three further occasions, so this experience along with his World Touring Car experience from 2004 to 2012 combined with my NGTC experience in the Ford Focus should enable us to be right up there from round one in Brands Hatch”, added Smith.
Team BMR Team Principal Warren Scott is equally delighted to welcome Árón to his team for 2014: “We are extremely proud as a Team to have managed to secure such an incredible driver line up. To have Árón with us is a statement of our intentions for the coming season and beyond. Árón is an exciting young talent and has already shown what a class act he is with six podiums in his first two years in the BTCC, one of which being a race win at the Brands Hatch season finale in 2012. 2013 saw four podiums in NGTC machinery with a double podium at both Snetterton and Silverstone. So for Árón to be piloting one of our cars is incredible and we are very excited for the year ahead.”
Árón Smith is currently one of Ireland’s leading motor racing drivers. The 2011 Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year graduated from an extensive karting career to the Renault Clio Cup in the UK in 2007. Having moved to the Italian Clio Cup for one season, Árón returned to the Clio Cup UK and narrowly missed out on taking the title in a season that included his BTCC debut in Knockhill in 2011. For 2012, Árón joined Motorbase Performance for the British Touring Car Championship and by the end of the season made two appearances on the podium including a race victory at the Brands Hatch GP Circuit during the penultimate round of the season. Remaining with Motorbase Performance racing under the banner of Airwaves Racing for 2013, Árón added three further podiums to his British Touring Car CV at Snetterton and Silverstone.
For 2014, Árón will join one of the British Touring Car Championship’s most famous drivers, two-time BTCC champion Alain Menu at Team BMR in the Volkswagen Passat CC.