The Airwaves Racing team head to Donington Park for round two of the 2013 Dunlop British Touring Car season and Aron Smith has been counting down the days.
Aron Smith will be lining up alongside teammate Mat Jackson in his New Generation Touring Car looking for some good points when the racing gets underway on Sunday.
Talking exclusively with Kent Sports News ahead of the second race meeting of the season, the Irish man said: “Since Brands I’ve been counting down the days to Donington, it’s a really weird feeling but I feel like I’ve a lot more to prove! It’s an odd one but when weekends go the way Brands did it really fires you up to bounce back and make a point about it. While the saying is ‘success breeds success’ I think the same could be said about bitterly disappointing weekends.
Aron is clearly determined to get back on track and ensure that he and the team has a successful weekend.
He added: “Hopefully you will see a big improvement. We had the media day there this year so we’ve done a bit of running and already know what to focus on with our car. I’ve completely disregarded Brands so in my mind it only starts at Donington so hopefully I can put on a bit of a show!
Talking us through the Donington track you certainly get the impression that it is one that the 23-year-old enjoys racing around.
“The tracks a lot more of a flowing circuit and a track I’ve always got on well with and to make matters even better is the fact that the car felt really good around there on the media day. Brands is a bit of a funny one because of how short the track is I always found that the car needs to be bang on in order to be on the pace while Donington is a bit more of a drivers track where bravery can make you up some time so hopefully that will play even more into our hands.
Believe it or not this season is only Aron’s second in British Touring Cars, and it is clear that he is not only aiming to improve on last year but to progress on to win the Championship one day.
He said: “My only goal is to outdo everything I achieved last year and then I’ll be happy! To be honest I had some shocking weekends in the first half of last year and only surfaced towards the end. Having 30 races is practically like having two seasons in one so it’s inevitable that you’ll have some bad weekends so let’s hope we’ve got that out of my system already!
“I love it! In my mind it’s the pinnacle of touring cars, while I know there’s the WTCC (World Touring Cars) I have always been more drawn to the BTCC because of the type of racing it produces. It’s a bit more cut throat and that’s much more entertaining to watch. I am sure if I wanted to watch a procession of fast cars I can watch F1.”
As a younger driver on the grid it is clear that Smith learns a lot by racing the more experienced drivers like Matt Neal and Jason Plato, drivers he grew up watching.
He added: “Those guys are the best in the business so if you want to make a name for yourself you have to pit yourself up against them but it’s safe to say I’ve definitely learnt a lot from the likes of Matt Neal.
“Those guys have been around for years for a reason, drivers come and go but there’s a bit of a formula if you want to stick around and they’ve nailed it. I’ve grown up watching these and learnt a lot from there so it is a tad surreal when you get to race against them.
“I’d love to put a really bold statement in saying that I can beat them (like most people say and go on to fail!) but the fact of the matter is that they are at the top of their game so it’s not an easy task but it’s something I’ll never give up on.”
You can watch the action unfold this weekend when Aron Smith, Mat Jackson and Liam Griffin take on the rest of the field in round two at Donington Park on ITV4.
Pictures supplied by PSP Images