Aron Smith was left ecstatic after securing a maiden podium for Team BKR on their first weekend in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after finishing third in the second race of the day at Brands Hatch.
Smith spent the off-season as one of the most scrutinised drivers, after many predicted he would part with BMR as a result of an alledged fall-out with then team-mate Jason Plato. Contrary to reports, Smith returned with BKR, who are being assisted by BMR, after signing a new two-year contract until the end of the 2017 season.
He finished third behind Matt Neal and race winner Gordon Shedden after initial leaders Tom Ingram and Rob Collard clashed at Druids and tumbled down the order. He spoke to TouringCars.net shortly after stepping off the podium and was delighted with the result.
“It’s always nice just to bounce back like that,” he grinned.
“We didn’t think we were racing. We went to the media day and it was a bit of an eye-opener, hats off to everyone, hats off to Nico [Ferrari], they pulled out all the stops and put everything in place I needed, and I can’t thank Warren Scott enough for what he’s done to help me as well. Certainly wouldn’t be here without him, and it’s nice to be on the podium first time round.”
Smith also believes that, despite the extensive development undertaken by Team BMR last season, the Volkswagen CC still has more performance to find in it’s current guise.
“It’s getting there, we still have a bit in the bag, I reckon. At the end of the day this is my third day with the team in total, so it’s early days and learning how everything works again. I think we’ll get quicker and quicker.”
He was also happy to see the suspected gap between the new RML control components and the older GPRM technology was not that large, with Smith able to keep pace comfortably with the Halfords Yuasa Racing duo up front.
“I suppose at the back of my head I always knew we’d have a fair old crack at it. If a car is quick, a car is quick, regardless of what bits are on it. But it’s nice to get back up there.”
Race three begins at 17:12.