JURATEK-sponsored Árón Taylor-Smith encouraged by pace at mid-season break

Date: Tuesday 18 July 2023

---

JURATEK-sponsored British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) star Árón Taylor-Smith says he is encouraged by his pace over the first half of the season and expects to mount regular podium challenges over the remaining races.

Taylor-Smith, now in his ninth full BTCC campaign, joined the Power Maxed Racing team for the 2023 season, switching to the Vauxhall Astra, which has helped the Irish driver to regularly challenge for the top ten.

“Switching teams always brings with it a period of settling in, so naturally I’m delighted to have regularly been up there fighting it out to finish in the top ten. The overall package has been fantastic and the pace in qualifying has got us well up the grid and in a position where we can challenge at the front,” Árón Taylor-Smith said.

Taylor-Smith’s focus has been on maximising his one-lap pace on his JURATEK-sponsored Vauxhall Astra, which paid dividends at Thruxton in April, when a strong grid position led to a frenetic battle for a podium place and ultimately a strong sixth place finish.

“In race trim, there’s very fine margins between each car. If we can maximise our one-lap speed, then there’s a good chance of us qualifying high up the field and if you can get into the top eight or top ten, it puts us in a great position to challenge for a win,” Taylor-Smith said.

Árón Taylor-Smith’s results in the first half of the season include six top-ten race finishes, two of which came in the opening round at Donington Park. A challenging weekend at Brands Hatch followed, before he returned to the top ten at Snetterton. Thruxton was Taylor-Smith’s most successful round of the season so far, with ninth, eighth and sixth place finishes giving him a boost before the most recent round at Oulton Park.

“A real highlight of the season so far was making the top ten shootout at Oulton Park. We just missed out at Brands Hatch by nine thousandths of a second. It’s something I’m most proud of this year; being one of the 10 best drivers getting the best out of their cars. It’s always a goal of mine going into the year and it’s nice to have ticked that off and know that we’re a force to be reckoned with in qualifying trim,” Taylor-Smith said.

Taylor-Smith showed a good turn of pace at the mid-season tyre test held at Donington Park on July 5th, ahead of the series’ much-anticipated return to the full Grand Prix loop in August.

Aron Taylor-Smith starred in his Vauxhall Astra touring car to set the second fastest time of the day, completing his best effort without having the hybrid system active, worth up to an additional three tenths of a second per lap when initiated.

Five race weekends remain in the 2023 BTCC season, with the next round at Croft in North Yorkshire from 29th-30thJuly, Knockhill in Fife from 12th-13th August, Donington Park from 26-27th August, Silverstone from 23rd-24thSeptember, and the season finale at Brands Hatch from 7th-8th October.

JURATEK has been involved in the development of high-quality braking components for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses and coaches, since 1995.

For more information, visit: https://juratek.com/ 

---