MOTORSPORT REVIEW: Smiley comes close to first points at Donington

The 24-year-old was one of many drivers who were caught out by the changing conditions at Donington Park.

Smiley could only finish up in 28th place, with the tarmac drying out towards the end of an hour-long session.

Qualifying at Leicestershire circuit has been described as one of the maddest sessions in a long time. Smiley was frustrated with his qualifying performance, as he had been running well in the wet before the conditions changed.

After bad luck blighted the opening round at Brands Hatch, he managed to stay out of trouble in race one, keeping his nose clean and bringing home his Toyota Avensis to a very respectable 22nd-place finish.

With BTCC rules dictating that drivers have to run the soft tyre in one out of the three races, Smiley had elected to run the faster, yet higher degrading tyre in the second race of the day.

He continued to make good progress, running as high as seventeenth place before the tyre wear took effect, dropping him back to 21st spot.

Speaking at the beginning of the year, maintaining tyre wear was one of the new challenges facing Smiley, so the data gained will be crucial for improvement as the season progresses.

The third and final race of the day ended in a superb 17th place for Smiley, with the result the former Mini Champion’s best in BTCC to date.

He used his talent in wheel-to-wheel combat to make strong progress throughout the third race, overtaking fellow Northern Irishman Colin Turkington on the final lap.

The next round takes place at Thruxton, where Smiley will look to build on a solid weekend at Donington.

In the opening round of the campaign, Smiley endured a difficult time at Brands Hatch, with contact hampering any chances of points in the first two races before electrical gremlins brought his weekend to an end.

In 2013 Smiley won the JCW Mini Championship and went on to compete in the DTM Championship.