Ex #BTCC Driver Gavin Smith to make Rallycross Debut at Mondello this Weekend

Gavin Smith, who raced in the British Touring Car Championshop from 2005-2007, will return to the cockpit this weekend at Mondello Park, when he takes the wheel of Noel Greene’s AMF Mitsubishi Mirage Supercar.

Greene is unable to compete at the event, so was happy for Smith, who is the brother of BTCC winner and Blancpain GT driver Arón, to take over.

This will reunite Smith with the Dublin based AMF team with whom he dominated the Fiat Uno Cup Championship in his debut motorsport season in 1998. He raced in the BTCC from 2005-2007, including a two year stint with the works Vauxhall squad, alongside names such as Colin Turkington, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Yvan Muller.

AMF have always kept in touch with Gavin and have recently discussed possible options in Rallycross with him, so this falls into place for all parties involved. Smith will take on double European Champion Derek Tohill, who will field his usual ERX partsforcars.ie Fiesta Supercar. Tohill is rarely beaten at Mondello Park, but Greene did manage it once in 2017, when Tohill was adjudged to have jumoed the start and relegated to the back of the grid. Despite am inspired charge, Green held him off to take his debut Superfinal win but just under a second.

Interestingly though, Greene has beaten Tohill off the line on a number of occasions, and should Smith manage the same, his BTCC style racecraft will no doubt come into play, so place your bets!

“We are delighted to be working with Gavin again”, said John Fields of AMF, “but it is a big ask for him as he has not been in a race car since 2007, so we are hoping to give him a quick spin in the car somewhere on Friday. We’ll be giving it our all though!”

Tickets are now on sale for the fourth round of the Irish Rallycross Championship in Mondello Park this weekend! Get yours now! Tickets are €12.50 online and all under 16’s go free!

Header Image: Mondello Park/IRX