Gavin Smith has retained his position with Vauxhall's VX Racing squad in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, it has been confirmed. And the Irishman has said he is unfazed by his two new, more experienced team-mates Tom Chilton and Fabrizio Giovanardi.

Smith came on strong towards the end of his debut season in 2005 with second and third-place finishes at Silverstone and Brands Hatch and this year is clearly eyeing race victories in Vauxhall's Astra Sport Hatch. He is particularly excited that this year's opening BTCC round, on 9 April, will be at Brands in Kent .

“I'm going to build on last year's progress from the first race,” said the 28-year-old. “This season is going to start off good for me at Brands where I had one of my strongest races of last year. I know there's more to come.”

Smith's performances towards the end of 2005 compared favourably with his much more experienced team-mates Yvan Muller and Colin Turkington. This year, his success will be measured alongside that of Chilton and Giovanardi – Chilton, still aged only 20, is entering his fifth BTCC season off the back of four wins in 2005, while Italian Giovanardi, although making his British debut, is one of the most successful touring car drivers in the world in the
past decade.

Smith added: “Having two strong team-mates again this year is great. Both are successful drivers in their own fields, but Yvan and Colin were no walk-overs and I took the competition to them more than once.”

VX Racing team principal Ian Harrison said Smith was his first choice to complete Vauxhall's three-car line-up. Harrison commented: “I think he showed he had good speed in the last couple of events (of 2005). The consistency of keeping him in the car is good for the team. He's shown he can get on the podium. Now I just need him to start doing it every weekend!”