Aron Smith stole the show for Airwaves Racing at Silverstone as he secured two podium finishes at the national circuit.
In race two he finished in third place and then went one better in the final race of the weekend bringing home his NGTC Focus in second place.
Mat Jackson also had a solid weekend at the home of British motorsport as he finished in the top ten in all three of the weekend races.
Their teammate Tom Onslow-Cole endured another tough weekend as he came home in P15 in race one and followed that up with s retirement in race two and a creditable P13 in the final race of the weekend.
In the first race of the weekend both Aron and Mat took full advantage of an early safety car appearance to move up in the field; managing to secure P8 and P9 which meant that they had a good start to the weekend. Having been troubled with mechanical issues during Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions, Tom had a big ask to work his way from the back of the grid but put in a sterling effort making up eight places to cross the line in P15.
Giving his thoughts after a fantastic weekend, Aron said: “The best weekend of my career! I owe it all to everyone at Airwaves racing; I’m the same driver I am every other weekend and this weekend the car was absolutely fantastic.
“Our package is one to beat now going to Brands – we can go to our home circuit full of confidence, and I’m quite optimistic about what we can do.”
The second race of the day started in dramatic fashion with all three Airwaves Racing NGTC’s caught up in opening lap incidents. Whilst Aron and Mat managed to survive relatively unscathed, unfortunately the same could not be said for Tom after his Focus took a heavy shunt just two corners in. An innocent victim; Tom was caught on the receiving end of a multi-car melee that left the #6 NGTC with heavy suspension and body damage; forcing him into the pits and out of action for the remainder of the race.
Following the restart, Aron put in a heroic drive for the remaining laps, systematically picking off the front runners to claim the first piece of silverware of the weekend for the team and a stunning P3 finish. Mat battled hard throughout the race; entertaining the crowds with a captivating on track battle with Matt Neal during the closing laps.
However an intermittent boost issue on the #7 Focus halted his progress through the field; and despite looking odds on for a top five finish initially, the Airwaves man did well keep pace with the front running pack to finish in P10 and collect a fourth top ten finish of the weekend for the team.
Reflecting on another tough weekend, Tom said: “This weekend has been a nightmare to be honest; with lots of problems. It’s always going to be a gamble coming somewhere to try impress and do a good job with only three rounds, but what’s frustrating is that we’re actually very quick. I feel comfortable in the car and really happy in the team but we just don’t seem to be rolling the die our way.
“Hopefully we’ve got all the bad luck out of the way now and we’ll have a storming Brands Hatch.”
The reversed grid race saw Aron in P4 and Mat in P10 for the final race of the day, and both drivers made a solid start off the line with Mat working his way up into P8 by the first corner. A tussle between front runners Neal and Tordoff, with the latter’s MG spinning off the track and down to about 15th place. It was a bold move that the young driver slotted past his more experienced drivers with consummate ease, he could easily have been collected as part of the incident.
An intense race ensued as Aron defended hard against the following pack to maintain his position as both Mat and Tom made their own ambitious charges through the field claiming P4 and P13 finishes respectively; amassing the sixth top ten finish and second podium visit of the weekend for Airwaves Racing.
Speaking after netting three top ten finishes in the race weekend, Jackson said: “A positive weekend for the team as a whole. We’ve had a lot of contact which had set us back in all three races, but we managed to salvage a good result in the last race.
“It’s a great result for everyone at Airwaves Racing to be in the mix and on the podium again after Rockingham’s successes.”
The season now moves onto the final round at Brands Hatch where all three Airwaves racing drivers will be looking to put on a show in front of their own fans, over the weekend of 12th and 13th October.
Pictures supplied by PSP Images.