Árón Smith says that he is ‘disappointed’ with qualifying in fifth for the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Donington Park, despite the performance being his third-best since joining the series.
Smith was fastest in the morning’s opening free practice session and followed it up with second fastest in second practice. However the Irishman admits that he feels that he could have got more out of his Team BMR Volkswagen Passat CC.
“I feel so bad saying I’m disappointed with fifth, because I think that’s my third-best qualifying ever,” said Smith to TouringCars.Net. “When you come out of free practice after being as quick as we were, you expect a little more. But it wasn’t there.”
Smith will start on the third row of the grid with experienced double champion and team-mate Alain Menu alongside in sixth, giving Smith confidence for the start of the opening race on Sunday.
“I’ve always found once you’re in the top few rows you’re fine,” added the Irishman. “Yes, we could have been third or fourth but with a BMW behind you or something they’d be straight by on the line. We can work together, we won’t let any rear-wheel drive cars through and I think the two of us will be very strong. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t come away with a podium.”
Smith added that he was pleased to not only be working with an experienced driver of Menu’s calibre but to be posting comparable – and faster – times than the Swiss.
“To give Alain a run for his money is brilliant,” said Smith. “It’s going to be wonderful – the two of us are very similar on times and we’re both very competitive so it’s pushing us.”
Smith also enthused about the standard of his new outfit, Team BMR, run by relative BTCC newcomer Warren Scott.
“I can honestly say, hand on heart, that this is one of the best teams I’ve ever been with,” explains Smith. “The effort they’re going to – they’re in the middle of building a new workshop – shows everything is just going from strength to strength.
“He [Scott] has gone above and beyond everything he promised me. I’m blown away and I want to be back here next year.”
Regarding the team’s planned build of a third Volkswagen, team owner Scott admitted that he has no plans to race the car himself and intends to keep it as a spare shell should either Smith or Menu require it in the future.
“We’re building another car – I want a spare car for the team,” explained Scott. “We’ll have the shell ready in the next couple of weeks and it will sit there as a spare shell in case there’s a problem with any of these cars, so that we don’t miss out on any rounds later on. At the moment there’s no plan for me to change.”