Aron Taylor-Smith kicked off the second half of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship in impressive fashion, scoring a double top-ten finish despite a puncture hampering his efforts at Croft.

The UK’s premier motorsport series reconvened after a six-week summer hiatus at the 2.1-mile Yorkshire venue, regarded as one of the championship’s best ‘all-rounders’ and a thorough test of both driver and car.

For TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK ace Taylor-Smith, it also marked the start of a fightback after a tough few rounds, and his Speedworks Motorsport-run #40 Corolla GR Sport was quickly among the pace-setters in practice.

That form translated across to qualifying, with the 35-year-old easily clearing the first knockout phase. He ultimately wound up seventh, a mere 0.02 seconds shy of making the Quick Six Shootout, and the discovery of a slight issue on the gearbox post-session only fuelled optimism for race day.

And that optimism proved to be well-founded; in front of a capacity trackside crowd and ITV’s television cameras, Taylor-Smith battled well in the first of three races to bring home seventh, just shy of a season best result.

On course for another top-ten finish and a spot in the coveted reverse-grid draw during Race 2, Lady Luck once again deserted Taylor-Smith, the Irish racer forced to pit with a front-left puncture, dropping him down the order, and to the back of the grid for the final race of the day.

As if to underline the car’s potential, Taylor-Smith’s progress at the start of Race 3 was quite a statement; a lightning getaway promoted him up three places to P17.

A lap later, he used all the experience, nous and racecraft amassed over 314 career starts in the BTCC to pick his way through a multi-car incident at the final hairpin and move up the order into the top ten.

At the restart, Taylor-Smith made quick work of Patterson’s CUPRA to rise another spot to ninth, a position he then held until the chequered flag to complete a stellar comeback and finish the weekend as he’d started it - in the points, despite running the slower, less-favoured Hard compound tyre.

The 2025 BTCC season resumes in a fortnight [16-17 August] with the series’ annual trip north of the Scottish border to Knockhill.

Aron Taylor-Smith (#40) said:

“If ever there was a day that shows the highs and lows of motorsport, it’s this one, but I’m really pleased to come away from it with two top-ten finishes, and bring home a decent haul of points for myself and everybody at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK.

“It’s been a tough old season so far, and coming to Croft my big focus was on the performance of the car, and the steps forward we’d managed to take over the summer break. From the driving seat, we’re definitely heading in the right direction, and it’s nice to see that reflected on the timing screens as well.

“Without the puncture in Race 2, I think we’d have been looking at three top-ten finishes, as a minimum, and who knows what we might have been able to achieve with the reverse grid draw – but this is something for us to keep building on.

“It’s given me a real boost, and I’m already looking forward to Knockhill in a couple of weeks’ time, a circuit that I enjoy and where the car should be in a good window.

“On a final note, I’d also like to say a particular congratulations to Max [Buxton] for scoring his first points in the championship, on his debut weekend. As championships go, this is one of the toughest in the world, and Croft is certainly not a circuit for the faint-hearted, so it’s a stellar result, and great for the whole team.”