Árón Taylor-Smith has had a brilliant start to his 2026 British Touring Car Championship campaign, highlighted with an overall victory in race two at Brands Hatch. The Irish driver, who has five BTCC victories to his name, made the switch from the factory Toyota Gazoo Racing team to the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport team ahead of the 2026 season. Over the first two rounds of the season, Taylor-Smith has shown brilliant pace and currently sits seventh in the overall standings and fourth in the independents. We spoke to Árón Taylor-Smith about his triumph at Brands Hatch, the competitiveness of the independent championships and the fast approaching round three at Snetterton.
ATS on his first victory in 10 years
Taylor-Smith’s victory in the mixed conditions at Brands Hatch was a sensational display of a driver who completely understands and knows the limits of his machine. Taylor-Smith spoke to us about his thoughts inside the helmet during that remarkable race two victory. He said: “The first race weekend we had a few issues we never nearly resolved, and after race one at Brands we found an issue and were able to rectify it heading into race two. To be honest rain, hail or snow whatever was going to come down I felt like we had a good chance because the car was in a great window.
“I knew the car felt phenomenally good so we just bided our time and chipped away because in those conditions the car will come to you. I would say pretty early doors I realised we have a real chance here and then you start to think, will this be a podium, will this be a win and then you just focus on going as fast as you can.”
Building a connection with a new engineer
With his move to the Laser Tools Racing team with MB motorsport, Taylor-Smith acquired a new race engineer for the 2026 season in Craig Porley who helped Jake Hill to his 2024. We asked Taylor-Smith about how he is getting on with Porley and how he keeps Aron calm in challenging conditions.
He said: “Craig Porley is phenomenal. He is able to tune the car around me so in those situations I am able to just switch off my brain and just do what he suggests. It’s an enormous help, I can’t put it into words how beneficial it’s been to have someone like Craig on the team. This is only our second ever race weekend together so that bodes really well. It’s the first time in my career that I’ve had the opportunity to work with a championship winning engineer and I can see why he has won as many races and championships as he has done.”
The most competitive grid in decades?
The Independent championships have been incredibly competitive so far this season with plenty of new teams strengthening the field. Throughout his 12 year career in the BTCC, Taylor-Smith has spent a number of years fighting in the independents class with success in 2024 winning the Independent drivers title. We asked ATS about the competition in the independent category this season and how it compares to previous seasons:
Árón said: “The level of competitiveness across the grid is one of the best in the last decade. Having the likes of West Surrey Racing and the Audi’s that Power Maxed Racing have built makes it incredibly competitive. But that’s what I like about it, because we want to win on merit. What PMR have done with their new saloons is very impressive and they are going to be a tough package to beat. But I do believe we can do it. Once we follow our process and do the best job we can I think we can win anything. The team that are around me are the best in the paddock, therefore we deserve and can get what we want out of this championship if it all goes to plan!”
Pre-season tests at Snetterton putting the team one step ahead before round 3
The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport team were spotted by BTCC fans running pre-season tests at Snetterton over the winter period. With just one practice session in a weekend to get the cars dialed into the circuit, we chatted to Taylor-Smith about how useful that knowledge from testing will be in order to get up to speed as quickly as possible:
Taylor-Smith said: “Doing some pre-season testing there has definitely proved to be beneficial. The car was very fast there pre season and it was arguably our strongest chassis circuit we have tested on. I don’t know what the length of the straights will have for us in terms of engine performance. But at the same time I know what the Corolla can do around there because of how good it felt when we were testing. It’s a track that I’ve had a lot of podiums at so it suits my style. The chassis is extremely strong around there and once we are in the mix anything can happen. If we are in the top 3 or 4 there’s no reason why we can’t win more races, not even just one, we could do two in a weekend!”
Confidence high in the Laser Tools camp
Finally, we asked Taylor-Smith how confident he and his team are feeling heading into Snetterton with a winners trophy already in their cabinet.
ATS said: “This championship is all about momentum. My self belief about what I could achieve never dwindled. But it’s nice to have the confidence of getting a win this early on in the year. If the season concluded now it would already be a massive success. I think currently we are at about 75% of our potential. However, I feel like we are just getting started and there is so much more to come.”
