“It’s an incredible feeling, to be stood here as a Toyota Gazoo Racing UK driver. To work with the world’s largest car manufacturer on the biggest stage in British motorsport was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and this is without doubt one of the proudest days of my career.”

The signing of Árón Taylor-Smith by the Speedworks run Toyota Gazoo team has come as no surprise over a 24-hour period where his former team – Power Maxed Racing – went public with a statement confirming that the Vauxhall Astra team are struggling for finances, after the withdrawal of their major sponsor.

The ‘rebirth’ of Taylor-Smith over the last two seasons at Power Maxed has pushed the Irish racer to the fore in the minds of many in the BTCC paddock. While the BTCC cannot afford to lose another team from its roster of entrants, and the possibility that PMR employees may find themselves shelved in 2025, the one golden opportunity to come from the situation is for the on-form driver to bag a top line seat at a time in his career where his outright speed has been on show weekend after weekend.

Taylor-Smith initially had a year left on his PMR contract. The four time BTCC race winner has been fully supportive of the team, but there has been an underlying feeling in the paddock that if unleashed in a manufacturer backed car, he would undoubtedly be a potent force in the championship, and would be expected to take multiple race wins, an opportunity that has been presented by the unfortunate situation of the Lithia/Pendragon/Evans Halshaw deal being reneged upon farcically two years early.

Almost decade on from his last BTCC race win in a BMR VW CC he is ready to return to the front f the field with a car that has already taken wins with five different drivers over the last six seasons. He stated: “When I met with Christian [Dick] and Danny [Buxton – Speedworks’ Head of Motorsport], it was clear right from the start that they’ve conducted a really exciting development programme over the winter with the Corolla GR Sport, which was already a proven race-winner and one of the most competitive packages on the BTCC grid! I’m hugely grateful to them for the faith they’ve put in me. This is an exceptionally motivated team, with some of the best staff in the business and a real ‘family feel’. Speedworks’ track record over the years speaks for itself, and I’ve been massively impressed with everything I’ve seen and heard so far – all the ingredients are in-place to make this a real success.”

Returning to the BTCC after a three season absence in 2021, he was tasked with bringing on stream the new Team HARD run Cupra Leon in an ambitious programme that would ultimately lead to nothing more than a trio of 10^th placed finishes across two years.

At Power Maxed for it initially seemed like more of the same was the story before a mid-season test revitalised the car. A win was denied at Silverstone on the last lap thanks to a full hybrid assault from the dominant driver of the year – Ash Sutton. Two second places were scored, which was added to in 2024 with two mor podiums, a host of Independents, and the Indy driver title.

“Having spent the past two years trying to beat the manufacturer-backed cars, it’ll be a surreal feeling to be amongst them, but that just spurs me on even more to put on a show. I’ve only ever wanted a chance to fight for the overall BTCC title, and I firmly believe that joining forces with Toyota Gazoo Racing UK gives me the perfect platform and environment to create that opportunity. I have absolute confidence in the car, the team and myself, and I can’t wait for my first laps in the Corolla. There’s no reason at all why we can’t be pushing for podiums and victories this season!”

The Corolla, a car that is manufactured in the UK, and over the hybrid era of the BTCC, a machine that in Hatchback form has only been available as a Hybrid, is yet to hit its absolute peak. A 2019 debut for the single car outfit saw wins for Tom Ingram, which he added to in 2020. Rory Butcher grabbed a handful of victories from 21-23 with Aiden Moffat, Josh Cook and Rob Huff taking the car to the top of the podium last term. The car proved it still had a lot of development opportunities after a mid-season upgrade package improved the machine for the second-half of last year.

For this term Ronan Pearson has already been snapped up by the team to run alongside Taylor-Smith. The third and fourth seat are still open with Rob Huff expected to be the only possibility of a return with 2024 drivers Andrew Watson and Aiden Moffat having officially exited. Josh Cook does not appear to be in the mix for a Speedworks return.

Team principal Christian Dick stated: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Árón to Toyota Gazoo Racing UK. It became evident from our very first conversations that he is a fantastic fit for Speedworks Motorsport, and vice-versa. His enthusiasm is infectious – and that is tremendously inspiring for the whole team. Árón has received a lot of praise for his performances and results over the past couple of campaigns – and justifiably so – and we absolutely believe that in the right car, he can be a regular front-runner and a contender for race wins. He is going from strength-to-strength and is well-placed to capitalise upon his current momentum. I genuinely believe we’re yet to see him at his very best, which is hugely exciting for us at the beginning of this partnership.

 “It’s vital to never stand still in the BTCC, because the rate of development in the championship can very quickly leave you behind. Accordingly, we’ve been hard at work since last season to further hone and refine the Corolla GR Sport, and we feel we have taken further steps forward across the board. We’re thrilled to have a driver of Árón’s unquestionable ability in the team. We believe that his experience will be of inestimable value to Ronan, and that they will extract the very best out of each other. We have every confidence that both drivers will prove to be real assets and will help to drive us on to even greater success in 2025 and beyond.”

The pressure will now be on Taylor-Smith to run at the front on a consistent basis in 2025, and to add a third manufacturer to his wins total.