Árón Taylor-Smith


Árón Taylor-Smith is an Irish racing driver currently racing in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. He is the younger brother of former VX Racing BTCC driver Gavin Smith.

Racing career

Karting

Born in Dublin, Taylor-Smith began his racing career in karting in 2004 at various tracks around Ireland such as Mondello Park and Athboy, he was the 2005 JICA Irish Kart Club Champion. He followed this up by becoming the Irish Open Kart Champion in 2006.

Renault Clio Cup

He made the move into cars for the 2007 season by entering the Renault Clio Cup which runs on the British Touring Car Championship support package. Driving for Mardi Gras Motorsport, he finished his debut season placed 13th in the championship with a best result of 4th at Thruxton.
Taylor-Smith stayed with the team for 2008 finishing 9th. He also contested the 2008 Renault Clio Winter Cup with Team Pyro where he took his first Clio Cup pole position in the first race at Croft, followed by his first win in the same race. He won the four-race championship ahead of Phil House and future BTCC and WTCC driver Alex MacDowall. He raced with Team Pyro for the 2009 season. Once again he improved, finishing fourth in the championship having achieved three podiums including a win.
He switched to the Clio Cup Italia for 2010, finishing the season 4th overall with two wins and two pole positions. 2011 saw Taylor-Smith return to the UK championship with Team Pyro. He finished joint second to Paul Rivett in the championship after a close title decider at Brands Hatch.

British Touring Car Championship

Triple 8 Race Engineering (2011)

Taylor-Smith made his BTCC debut for Triple 8 Race Engineering at the Knockhill round of the 2011 British Touring Car Championship. He picked up a single point on his debut after finishing in 10th place. This was to be a one-off appearance as the Renault Clio Cup rejoined the TOCA package at Rockingham.

Motorbase Performance (2012–2013)

In 2012 raced for Redstone Racing in one of their NGTC engined Ford Focus STs. His teammates were Mat Jackson and Liam Griffin. In the season opening race at Brands Hatch, the bumper of his car was memorably pulled off by a recovery vehicle as it was towed out of a gravel trap. In June 2012 he demonstrated his Ford Focus ST BTCC car on the streets of Dublin during the Bavaria City Racing Festival in front of an estimated 110,000 fans. He came close to a podium finish at Knockhill and led at Rockingham until a safety car allowed his rivals to catch him. Taylor-Smith finally took his first podium finish at Silverstone by finishing third in the first race. He took his first win at the final event of the year at Brands Hatch, crossing the line ahead of champion Gordon Shedden in race two. He finished the year placed eighth in the final championship standings.
Taylor-Smith stayed with Motorbase for 2013, now driving a full NGTC specification Ford Focus ST as raced by Jackson in the second half of the 2012 season. He led Jackson in the standings for much of the season but ended the year ninth, one place behind Jackson. Neither driver won a race, however they both achieved several podiums.

Team BMR (2014–2015)

Taylor-Smith moved to Team BMR for the 2014 British Touring Car Championship, driving a Volkswagen CC alongside former champion Alain Menu. Taylor-Smith took two wins, one at Oulton Park and the other at Snetterton, and finished ninth in the final drivers' championship standings. Taylor-Smith remained with Team BMR for 2015, where he was joined by former champions, Colin Turkington and Jason Plato. He finished the year 11th overall claiming 6 podiums.

Team BKR (2016)

Taylor-Smith moved to the newly formed Team BKR for the 2016 season. He started the year strongly with podiums at both Brands Hatch and Donington Park. A win would come his way at Rockingham and he finished the year 14th overall.

MG RCIB Triple Eight Racing (2017)

Taylor-Smith moved once again this season, this time to Triple Eight Racing for the 2017 British Touring Car Championship season. He was the lead driver of the two car entry paired with Daniel Lloyd.

Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup

Team Parker Racing (2018)

British GT Championship

Taylor-Smith drove with ex-BTCC driver Sam Smelt in a Ford Mustang GT4. They finished 22nd in the championship with only 4 points, scored at Snetterton.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930DCPoints
2011Triple 8 Race EngineeringVauxhall VectraBRH
1		BRH
2		BRH
3		DON
1		DON
2		DON
3		THR
1		THR
2		THR
3		OUL
1		OUL
2		OUL
3		CRO
1		CRO
2		CRO
3		SNE
1		SNE
2		SNE
3		KNO
1
10		KNO
2
13		KNO
3
Ret		ROC
1		ROC
2		ROC
3		BRH
1		BRH
2		BRH
3		SIL
1		SIL
2		SIL
3		24th1
2012Redstone RacingFord Focus ST Mk. IIBRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
8		DON
1
8		DON
2
9		DON
3
11		THR
1
7		THR
2
8		THR
3
15		OUL
1
Ret		OUL
2
16		OUL
3
Ret		CRO
1
10		CRO
2
Ret		CRO
3
Ret		SNE
1
14		SNE
2
10		SNE
3
6		KNO
1
4		KNO
2
6		KNO
3
8		ROC
1
Ret		ROC
2
6		ROC
3
5*		SIL
1
3		SIL
2
4		SIL
3
9		BRH
1
4		BRH
2
1*		BRH
3
5		8th204
2013Airwaves RacingFord Focus ST Mk. IIIBRH
1
9		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
11		DON
1
11		DON
2
8		DON
3
7		THR
1
9		THR
2
10		THR
3
5		OUL
1
Ret		OUL
2
14		OUL
3
10		CRO
1
14		CRO
2
12		CRO
3
9		SNE
1
6		SNE
2
3		SNE
3
3		KNO
1
10		KNO
2
Ret		KNO
3
15		ROC
1
13		ROC
2
15		ROC
3
14		SIL
1
8		SIL
2
3		SIL
3
2		BRH
1
10		BRH
2
5		BRH
3
5		9th201
2014CHROME Edition Restart RacingVolkswagen CCBRH
1
7		BRH
2
13		BRH
3
Ret		DON
1
9		DON
2
8		DON
3
11		THR
1
22		THR
2
14		THR
3
7		OUL
1
12		OUL
2
8		OUL
3
1*		CRO
1
23		CRO
2
14		CRO
3
9		SNE
1
6		SNE
2
8		SNE
3
1*		KNO
1
8		KNO
2
Ret		KNO
3
Ret		ROC
1
20		ROC
2
17		ROC
3
12		SIL
1
6		SIL
2
5		SIL
3
2		BRH
1
11		BRH
2
7		BRH
3
5		9th201
2015Team BMR RCIB InsuranceVolkswagen CCBRH
1
2		BRH
2
12		BRH
3
3		DON
1
DNS		DON
2
12		DON
3
6		THR
1
21		THR
2
11		THR
3
8		OUL
1
5		OUL
2
7		OUL
3
7		CRO
1
12		CRO
2
16		CRO
3
12		SNE
1
2		SNE
2
Ret		SNE
3
12		KNO
1
25		KNO
2
DNS		KNO
3
17		ROC
1
3		ROC
2
11		ROC
3
6		SIL
1
6		SIL
2
3		SIL
3
24		BRH
1
2		BRH
2
8		BRH
3
9		11th209
2016Team BKRVolkswagen CCBRH
1
7		BRH
2
3		BRH
3
8		DON
1
8		DON
2
3		DON
3
15		THR
1
20		THR
2
18		THR
3
Ret		OUL
1
8		OUL
2
17		OUL
3
11		CRO
1
10		CRO
2
11		CRO
3
8		SNE
1
Ret		SNE
2
Ret		SNE
3
17		KNO
1
NC		KNO
2
Ret		KNO
3
18		ROC
1
15		ROC
2
7		ROC
3
1*		SIL
1
6		SIL
2
24		SIL
3
Ret		BRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
14		BRH
3
20		15th132
2017MG RCIB Insurance RacingMG 6 GTBRH
1
14		BRH
2
15		BRH
3
12		DON
1
23		DON
2
18		DON
3
9		THR
1
20		THR
2
27		THR
3
25		OUL
1
16		OUL
2
12		OUL
3
25		CRO
1
WD		CRO
2
WD		CRO
3
WD		SNE
1
Ret		SNE
2
27		SNE
3
Ret		KNO
1
15		KNO
2
Ret		KNO
3
24		ROC
1
16		ROC
2
15		ROC
3
20		SIL
1
19		SIL
2
14		SIL
3
17		BRH
1
23		BRH
2
13		BRH
3
20		27th25

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Complete British GT Championship results

YearTeamCarClass123456789DCPoints
2019RACE PerformanceFord Mustang GT4GT4OUL
1
25		OUL
2
28		SNE
1
25		SNE
2
21		SIL
1
Ret		DON
1
30		SPA
1
29		BRH
1
26		DON
1
Ret		22nd4