Aron Taylor-Smith steps away from BTCC to pursue GT career

Aron Taylor-Smith has revealed that he will move away from the British Touring Car Championship for the 2018 season to ‘pursue a new chapter’ in his racing career.

The 28-year-old made his debut in the series back in 2011 with Triple Eight and has since gone on to start nearly 180 races – taking four career wins and a best championship finish of eighth back in 2012.

Having also raced for Motorbase, BMR and BKR during his time in the series, Taylor-Smith saw his career come full circle in 2017 when he returned to Triple Eight, but it proved to be a tough campaign with the MG team.

Picking up just one top ten finish over the course of the season, Taylor-Smith also suffered a fractured leg in the incident at Croft that would rule Luke Davenport and Jeff Smith out of action.

Although not ruling out a return to the championship in the future, Taylor-Smith said there were opportunities available in GT competition that could see him move to endurance racing for next season.

“The BTCC is a brilliant championship,” he said. “Alan Gow and TOCA do an exceptional job in putting together the series, but now after six seasons, I want to pursue a new chapter in my motorsport career. I will certainly miss a lot about the championship, I’ve made friends for life in the BTCC paddock and loved so much of my experience. It will be sad to leave but I feel this is the right decision for me. I would never rule out a return to the BTCC but for now, my focus is on exploring different avenues of motorsport.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me over the years. From Motorbase who I celebrated my first BTCC win with in 2012 right through to my time with MG. It’s been a great few years and I’ve a lot to be thankful for.

“I also want to give special thanks to Warren and Vicki Scott, and of course Nico Ferrari, for everything that they have done for me since joining the [BMR] team in 2014. I have lived, raced and worked full time at BMR for the last four years and have loved being a part of the wider BMR family, but now the time has come for me to move on.

“The thought of embarking on a new chapter of my motorsport career in the form of GT’s really excites me. I want to travel more and embark on new challenges. I’ve spent my whole life aiming for a career in the BTCC and for the first time ever my priorities have shifted. It’s a really exciting time.

“While my plans are not concrete yet I am currently exploring a few extremely exciting GT opportunities and I can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!”