Chris Smiley
Where did it all begin?
BIography
Chris Smiley began his circuit racing career in 2007 in the Ginetta Junior Championship. He spent a brace of campaigns in the Scottish MINI Cooper Cup in 2010 and 2011, winning races and voted the category’s Young Driver of the Year along the way.
The following season, he graduated to the MINI Challenge Great Britain. Having placed third in the JCW category in 2012, Smiley clinched the class crown in 2013 with nine victories and 14 podium finishes to his credit.
In 2014, the Northern Irishman reached the top step of the rostrum in the Volkswagen Scirocco-R Cup Germany en route to fourth spot in the classification, and after subsequent sporadic outings in the Volkswagen Racing Cup and VAG Trophy, he stepped to the BTCC in 2016 with TLC Racing, piloting a Toyota Avensis.
For 2017, Smiley joined new entrants BTC Norlin Racing in a Chevrolet Cruze. Both the fledgling outfit and Smiley enjoyed a strong opening campaign, with consistent points finishes throughout the second half of the year.
Smiley stayed with Norlin for 2018, with the team switching to a potent pair of FK2 Honda Civic Type Rs. He sealed a maiden BTCC race victory at Rockingham on the championship’s final visit to the circuit.
In 2019, BTC Racing have acquired two new current FK8-generation Honda Civic Type Rs, alongside a Honda NBE powerplants. Chris continued with the BTC Racing for a third-straight year.
For the 2020 BTCC season Chris moved to EXCELR8 with a new car in the Hyundai i30N. Chris did well with the new team and settled in well.
A second place early in the season at Donnington, seven top ten finishes and for virtually every race throughout the season finished in the top 15.
2021 sees the continuation of the relationship with EXCELR8 as Chris looks to further improve on a very impressive first season with the team. Once again the team will be running the Hyundai i30N and we look forward to the season.
Restart Racing – TCR UK 2022
2022 was the first season with Restart Racing in the TCR UK Championship, it was a last minute decision which meant picking up a car which had not been run by the team before and the first time Chris drove it was in free practice at the opening weekend at Oulton Park.
What followed was nothinig short of amazing as Chris qualified in pole and won the 1st race of the season.
Throughout the season Chris continued with pole positions and podium finishes which was an amazing feat given this was the first time driving with the TCR set up.
The final weekend of the season was a very wet session in October at Snetterton, Chris drove extremely well and won the TCR UK Championship for 2022.
FIA Motorsport Games 2022
When the 2022 season was drawing to a close, Chris was selected to drive for the UK in the FIA Motorsport Games at Paul Ricard, of course he took the opportunity and performed very well.
Chris Smiley, Team UK FIA Motorsport Games Touring Car representative:
“It’s a privilege to be invited to join Team UK and take part in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games. It will be very interesting to see how we fair against drivers and teams from the other countries represented.
“Paul Ricard is new to me, so I’m eager to learn as much as I can about the circuit and how the car reacts to it. I’m really looking forward to competing for Team UK and taking on the responsibility that comes with representing your country in a major sporting event.”
Throughout the season Chris continued with pole positions and podium finishes which was an amazing feat given this was the first time driving with the TCR set up.
The final weekend of the season was a very wet session in October at Snetterton, Chris drove extremely well and won the TCR UK Championship for 2022.
TCR UK 2023
This season looks to be shaping up already to be one of the most memorable seasons of Chris career.
Restart Racing will be the first team in the world to compete with the brand-new Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR, where it’ll make its debut in this year’s TCR UK championship.
