Aron Taylor-Smith was crowned the 2024 Independent Drivers’ Champion in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone last weekend [21-22 September], scoring another brace of class victories, plus a hat-trick of strong points finishes overall to take the title.
Having amassed four race victories and 22 podiums across 11 years competing in the UK’s premier motorsport series, the Independents’ crown marks not only Taylor-Smith’s greatest achievement to-date, but also inks another chapter in the remarkable story of his career renaissance with Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing.
The potential for it to be a special weekend at the “Home of British Motorsport” was evident from the first session on track, not least because of the intermittent rain showers creating the ideal conditions for Taylor-Smith and the Vauxhall Astra underneath him to shine.
After putting in consistent, front-running lap times across both practice sessions, and with every possibility of securing the Independent title with an event to spare, qualifying on Saturday afternoon took on extra significance – and produced the dramatics to match.
On Taylor-Smith’s first lap in ‘Q1’, the gear lever snapped off in his hand, forcing him to pit for an emergency repair. Fantastic work by the Dubliner’s car crew returned him to the action, and he duly cleared both knockout rounds to reach the coveted “Quick Six” shootout for pole position.
From there, Taylor-Smith was peerless, beating Ingram to top spot by a tenth of a second to score a second career pole – or, rather, what should have been.
Damage to the left-hand side of the car meant it failed post-session scrutineering checks and, despite having gained no performance advantage, Taylor-Smith was excluded from the results.
On a race day plagued by heavy rain showers, Taylor-Smith put in a storming drive across all three races in front of a capacity crowd and millions more on ITV4 to rescue the situation and return the #40 Vauxhall to the front.
First, the 34-year-old put in a gutsy, ‘elbows out’ performance in the opening race to advance from the penultimate row of the grid to score not only decent points in P12, but an impressive 18th Independent win of the campaign to put himself on the verge of championship glory.
Far from finished, Taylor-Smith then went three better in the second contest, breaking into the top ten and securing ninth at the chequered flag.
Despite missing out on another ‘Indy’ win in the process in a hard-fought skirmish, second-in-class proved enough for Taylor-Smith to clinch the championship with four races to spare.
Having failed on this occasion to benefit from the reverse grid draw, a torrentially wet finale yielded few risk-free opportunities to make further progress from ninth.
Discretion ultimately proved to be the better part of valour for Taylor-Smith, and another ninth-placed finish – plus a 19th Independent win to boot – provided a fitting end to a fantastic weekend.
Taylor-Smith’s title-winning triumph was reflected across the garage, with Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing wrapping up the Independent Teams’ title, and Taylor-Smith’s team-mate Mikey Doble earning the Jack Sears Trophy title, all with an event to spare.
Brands Hatch’s iconic Grand Prix circuit will host the BTCC season finale in a fortnight [5-6 October].
Aron Taylor-Smith (#40) said:
“I’m absolutely over the moon to have won the Independent Drivers’ title. To win a championship at this level is a dream come true, and I’m hugely grateful first and foremost to everybody – the team, my partner network, family and friends – who have given me a platform on which to go out and achieve this.
“Saturday was a tough break; rules are rules, but it can be tough to swallow when it’s damage, not our error, that has caused the car to fail the technical checks. I’m still immensely proud we were able to go out there and get pole in the first place, especially after a few dramas in Q1!
“It was great to go out across all three races and not only prove the pace we had in the car by moving up through the field, but to also recover lost ground and get those two Independent wins, which ultimately means we stand here as champions.
“It goes without saying that, both in myself as a driver and as a team, we want to keep improving, keep finding performance and, ultimately, be in a position to win races and fight for the overall title in the future, so the development process is never-ending.
“But it’s important along the journey to celebrate the successes when they come, and this ranks right up there with some of the best moments in my touring car career – so far!
“Lastly, I’d also like to extend my congratulations to my team-mate Mikey, on winning the Jack Sears Trophy, and to Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing for winning the Independent Teams’ title. To have wrapped up three titles with an event to spare is a real testament to the hard work and talent that every single person in the team has shown, time and time again, throughout the season.
“Now, it’s onto Brands Hatch, with the sole aim of putting on a good show and ending this season on a high note to give us some momentum to take into next year!”
