Team BKR celebrated a maiden podium finish as early as their second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship outing, Aron Smith finishing third in race two of the season at Brands Hatch.
Smith joined the Halfords Yuasa Racing duo of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal on the rostrum after a dramatic second race at the Kent circuit, upholding some bragging rights for GPRM with the 2015-specification Volkswagen CC.
Silverware came earlier than expected for the former Team BMR racer, who was quick to praise those involved in the BKR project afterwards.
“It’s always nice just to bounce back like that when we didn’t think we were racing”, Smith told TCF after his podium visit.
“We went to media day and it was a bit of an eye-opener. Hats off to everyone; hats off to Nico [Ferrari], they pulled out all the stops and put everything in place I needed.
“I can’t thank Warren Scott enough for what he’s done to help me as well. Certainly wouldn’t be here without him and it’s nice to be on the podium first time round.”
The three-time BTCC race winner proved his top-10 credentials as early as Saturday afternoon, grabbing 10th place on the grid for Sunday’s opening race.
A strong seventh place in race one then came the way of the Volkswagen CC driver before his rise to the podium in the second encounter, leaving Smith upbeat on the future for BKR.
“It’s getting there”, continued Smith. “We still have a bit in the bag, I reckon. At the end of the day this is my third day with the team in total, so it’s early days and learning how everything works again. I think we’ll get quicker and quicker.
“I suppose at the back of my head I always knew we’d have a fair old crack at it. If a car is quick, a car is quick, regardless of what bits are on it. But it’s nice to get back up there.”
