Smiley is determined to repay Hyundai’s early show of faith
THE start of the 2021 British Touring Car Championship may have been pushed back a month but Chris Smiley has already got his plans up and running.
He will spend a second season with the Excelr8 Hyundai team, which is being expanded in a tieup with Trade Price Cars, and Smiley is delighted his deal has been done early.
“It’s great that the team has put its faith in me with this early announcement,” said the 28-yearold Carrickfergus driver, who will be part of a four-strong lineup in i30 N Hyundai Fastbacks.
“This is the first time that I will be going into a second year with an unchanged package since I joined the touring car grid, and that consistency can only be a good thing.
“Last year was a real challenge for us with a new car because the pandemic meant we couldn’t do as much testing as we would have liked. With the whole season compressed into a few months, it was pretty much turn up and race every week.
“But with the winter development programme that the team has in place, and the fact that we will now have four cars to share data between, I’m really hopeful that we can push for race wins during 2021. I know the car has great potential.”
Smiley won his first BTCC race at Rockingham in 2018 and has finished on the podium six times, including achieving the first topthree finish for Hyundai at the opening round of the 2020 season at Donington Park.
He will be joined in the Hyundai team by Jersey-based Jack Butel, who is switching from Ciceley Motorsport, but the names of the two remaining drivers have not been revealed so far. Senna Proctor, who partnered Smiley last season, is not thought to be included.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, the start of the series has been pushed back to May 8-9 at Thruxton when Colin Turkington is expected to begin his bid to become the first five-time champion.
Meanwhile, Kris Meeke finished his first Dakar Rally with a flourish, the Dungannon driver setting the fastest time in the lightweight category in the concluding Yanub to Jeddah stage.
Dogged by mechanical issues with their PH Sport Zephyr buggy, including it catching fire, Meeke and navigator Wouter Rosegaar have long been out of the running, but they kept fighting, picking up four stage wins in the T3 prototype class and ending by topping the lightweight times outright yesterday.
As far as the former World Championship rally winner was concerned, it was mission accomplished. He gained valuable experience, loved the whole adventure, despite its frustrations, and can’t wait to do it all over again next year.
The T3 class was won by Josef Machacek after the early front runners Cristina Gutierrez and teenage American Seth Quintero ran into trouble. Bangor co-driver Michael Orr was ninth alongside Mansour al-helei.
The rally was won outright for a 14th time by Stefane Peterhansel, the French veteran bringing his X-raid Mini to the finish 13 minutes ahead of the Toyota Hilux of Nasser al-attiyah, with Carlos Sainz third in another of the Minis.
Aside from Meeke’s troubles, two other members of his Abu Dhabi Racing team performed impressively, his former Citroen WRC team-mate Khalid al-qassimi taking seventh and Cyril Despres 10th in their Peugeots.