Chris Smiley Takes the Win at Rainy Rockingham

RAVENOL’s BTCC partners BTC Norlin have got their second win this season after Chris Smiley took the top spot in Race 3 at Rockingham.

The team got off to a mixed start in Race 1 with Chris bringing his grey and pink Honda Civic Type R home in a healthy 4th place, whilst team mate Dan Lloyd was forced off the track on the second corner and had to come into the pits for repairs. He managed to get back out on the track but the best he could manage was 21st.

In Race 2, the weather started closing in and all cars were required to do two warm up laps to ensure they were familiar with the conditions on track. Chris was struggling on the hard tyre and dropped down to 6th. Meanwhile Dan had slipped back to 25th, but put in a stellar performance in the last few laps and made it all the way up into a respectable 16th, putting him in a good position to fight for the points in the final race.

Race 3 has a reverse grid, meaning Chris started in 5th, but he got a great start and was able to capitalise on the surrounding drivers being caught out by changing track conditions. By the second corner he was in the lead, though that was threatened mid-way through the race when the Safety Car made an appearance. By this time Dan had made his way up into 13th, but contact after the restart force him to retire from the race.

Chris had a great restart, quickly pulling away from the chasing pack to give him a lead of over a second. For the rest of the race he drove perfectly, ensuring he came home in first place to win his first race of the Championship, with a lead of 3.5 seconds over Colin Turkington.

Speaking with the team after the race, he said, “What an amazing day for me and BTC Norlin Racing!

“I managed a good start off the line and in turn two a few cars ran wide, enabling me to take the lead and control the race from there. It was far from easy sailing as I had a safety car restart and some rain to handle, but I managed to keep my concentration and win by 3.56 seconds ahead of my fellow countryman Colin Turkington. The last 5 laps felt like 5 years, but the emotion crossing the finish line is something I will never forget.

“I can’t thank Bert Taylor, Richard Irwin and Stephen Symington enough for everything they have done for me… This win is for them! I am bursting with excitement to get to Knockhill in two weeks time!”

Image c/o BTC Norlin Raving