Gavin Smith (born 15 September 1977) is an Irish

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. His younger brother, Árón Taylor-Smith, is also a racing driver who races in the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports G ...

, and formerly the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

Career

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Smith won Ireland's Fiat Punto championship in 1998, winning 12 times, before trying single-seaters for the next year. In 2000 he was in British Formula Renault, before moving up to the Scholarship class (using year old cars) of Formula 3. Gavin Smith 2006 BTCC Oulton Park

However, it has been in

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

that Gavin has raced since 2003. He had 2 seasons in the

SEAT Cupra Championship The SEAT Cupra Championship was a one-make series that ran for six years between 2003 and 2008, the last five of which ran as a support package to the British Touring Car Championship. Originally the prize for winning the championship was a driv ...

, winning 4 races and coming 5th overall in 2004. By this time he had already made his

BTCC The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

debut in a one-off at

Mondello Park Mondello Park is Ireland's only international motorsport venue and is located in Caragh, County Kildare off the R409 regional road, approximately from Dublin city centre. History The Mondello Park short circuit was designed on farmland ne ...

, and he tested a VX Racing

Vauxhall Astra The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) that has been sold by Vauxhall Motors, Vauxhall since 1980. Over its eight generations, it has been made at several GM/Opel/Stellantis plants around Europe - however most versio ...

in early 2005. After impressing the team he earned a drive in their third car, which the team openly admitted is awarded to the best driver who can bring enough money to fund it themselves, rather than necessarily the best available driver. Gavin was 10th overall in 2005, although the fact that he was retained for 2006, while

Colin Turkington Colin Henry Turkington (born 21 March 1982) is a British auto racing, racing driver from Northern Ireland who competed in the 2022 British Touring Car Championship, British Touring Car Championship most recently for West Surrey Racing, Team BMW ...

was fired after finishing 6th, tells its own story. However, he did show signs of improvement late in the season: up until round 9 his best qualifyings were a pair of 4ths, and his best race result was a 5th place, whereas in the last 2 meetings he scored a 2nd and a 3rd, as well as qualifying 2nd in the last round. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, Smith improved to 8th overall, but lost his drive for

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

when VX Racing downsized to a two-car team due to the pressures of preparing new-specification Vauxhall Vectras. With 3 rounds of the 2007 season to go, it was announced that Smith would join GR Asia in alongside Adam Jones, driving a 2007 spec SEAT León. He finished 13th Overall. His younger brother, Árón, is also a racing driver and made his BTCC début in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

for the Triple Eight team, which previously competed under the VX Racing name. Árón races for Redstone Racing in 2012.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

References

External links

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btcc:action profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gavin 1977 births British Touring Car Championship drivers Irish racing drivers Living people Motorsport people from County Dublin British Formula Three Championship drivers Team Meritus drivers