Smiley concedes TCR UK defence rests on strong Knockhill performance

Smiley, from Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland, finished fourth and seventh at Oulton Park Island before the summer break to help keep his points total ticking over at the wheel of Honda Racing’s latest Civic Type R.

With four race weekends remaining, Smiley is currently ninth in the championship standings on ninety-six points – ninety-three in arrears of Area Motorsport’s runaway leader, Bruce Winfield.

Despite the gulf, Smiley believes the successful defence of his title is still do-able but admits that he cannot afford to have a mediocre weekend around the short 1.26-mile track near Dunfermline.

“Having three races, it will be critical to have big points on the board, so in a lot of ways yes, my title prospects hinge on doing well at Knockhill. But I absolutely love the place – I have had many great weekends there during my British Touring Car days – so I am looking forward to being back.

“It is the only three round meeting of the season so it is also going to be important for me to be physically fit as the heat inside any closed vehicle with all your race gear on is high, so I have been paying close attention to that side of my job as well by working out three mornings every week.”

The transition from the previous generation Civic to the latest iteration of the Japanese hatchback has not been straightforward for the 32-year-old, which is why he has used the time between Oulton Park and Knockhill to work on ironing out issues surrounding both the ride and handling.

“We took the car over for two days of testing at Kirkistown in County Down,” said Smiley who was joined for part of it by Belfast’s Jack Young given that he campaigns the same car in TCR China.

“We have found some changes that have helped the car and we now know what direction to head in with it. This is important because TCR UK is the only championship that uses Goodyear tyres, so we always have to double- and cross-check what works on the cars that run with Kumho tyres.

“The team has been working closely on the suspension and we have been involved in quite a lot of meetings with Honda to identify how we can improve our overall performance,” he added.

Qualifying for Saturday’s curtain raising 25-minute race (2.05pm-2.30pm) takes place tomorrow morning from 11 o’clock until 11.30am, while Sunday’s two sprint contests are scheduled for a 10.20am and a 1.55pm start.