Brands Hatch Indy: When the rain came, Árón Taylor-Smith supplied the thunder!
Brands Hatch Indy delivered exactly what the BTCC promised: chaos, contact, and one utterly stellar drive from Árón Taylor-Smith to turn a miserable-looking afternoon into a proper victory celebration for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport.
If Donington Park was about a strong start, this was the weekend where the team showed it can do more than simply contend. It can win. In conditions that were as treacherous as they were predictable, Árón produced a wet-weather masterclass to rise from the midfield, pick off the big names, and send his chrome-blue car to the top step of the podium. That is not a lucky result. That is a driver reading a race better than the rest and backing himself to make it count.
The team had arrived at Brands Hatch on the back of a podium and an Independents’ win at Donington, and there was clearly no intention of treating the season’s second BTCC event as anything less than a serious opportunity to keep the momentum rolling. Saturday’s Qualifying Race did the job in keeping both cars in the mix, and by the time Sunday’s races rolled around, the stage was set for a proper BTCC scrap. Rain had threatened the skies above Brands Hatch all day, and it started just before the start of Race 2; half way through the race it arrived properly. And once it did, all hell broke loose.
Race 2: Slicks and spray!
The majority of the field rolled the dice by staying on slick tyres, Árón Taylor-Smith and Gordon Shedden among them. In theory, that could have been the right call. In practice, it looked like the sort of decision that can go spectacularly wrong in a hurry. The circuit was greasy, the grip vanished by the lap, and the drivers who hesitated were swallowed up.
Árón did the opposite of hesitating. He kept his nose clean, stayed patient while others flailed, and quietly worked his way into contention. By half-distance he was already deep inside the top five and looking increasingly dangerous. Then he stopped being patient and started being ruthless.
First came Tom Ingram. Then Ash Sutton. Wow. Between them, six BTCC titles and plenty of pedigree. Árón did not seem remotely interested in any of that. He went through Druids and then on the Cooper Straight with the kind of precision that says the driver knows exactly how much grip he has left and exactly how far he can push it. A lap later, he launched a bold move to the inside at Paddock Hill Bend to relieve Ricky Collard of the lead, and that was that. Game over. Race on.
Once in front, he was in full control. No drama, no panic, no unnecessary heroics. Just quick, measured laps in the worst possible conditions, stretching the margin to 3.4 seconds before a late red flag brought proceedings to an abrupt end. With no chance of a restart, the result stood.
Árón Taylor-Smith was a winner. Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport had its first victory of the season. And the garage erupted accordingly.
It was a huge result on several levels: Árón’s first win for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport. The first victory for the team’s new two-car line-up. And, perhaps most satisfyingly of all, the Irishman’s first BTCC win since Rockingham in 2016. That is a long wait by any standard, and he made sure the comeback was worth it. It also meant back-to-back Independent victories for the team in the opening two meetings of the season. That is not a bad habit to be forming.
While the results didn’t fully reflect his pace, Gordon Shedden still delivered the kind of determined, elbows-out performances that have defined his touring car career. Race 1 started with promise. He got away smartly, muscled his way into the top six, and looked set to bank another strong result. Then contact from a rival knocked him off course and changed the outcome of his race. Race 2 proved no kinder, leaving him with more recovery work than reward.
In Race 3, he did what seasoned champions do: he got stuck in. Starting from the back, he hauled the car through the field with proper determination, proper racecraft and absolutely no time for sentiment, eventually climbing to seventh. A proper salvage job, and the sort of drive that keeps championship points moving in the right direction even on a bruising weekend.
Árón Taylor-Smith came home ninth in the final race, and while that may not have had the same headline-grabbing impact as his earlier win, it underlined the Corolla’s race pace and ensured both cars finished inside the top ten.
By the time the dust settled, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport had turned an already encouraging start into something more serious. A podium at Donington was a statement. A win at Brands Hatch is something else entirely.
The team now sits fourth in the overall Teams’ Championship, with Taylor-Smith and Shedden seventh and tenth respectively in the Drivers’ standings. Among the Independents, they are second, with both drivers firmly in the mix at fourth and fifth.
Next up is Snetterton’s 300 circuit on 23-24 May, where the season rolls on and the stakes keep rising. After a performance like that, there is no shortage of momentum in the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport garage!
Photos: Jakob Ebrey
