Josh Cook was the winner of the 2023 BTCC Independent Drivers' title ahead of Árón Taylor-Smith in second. As the former had moved to Manufacturer-backed TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK for the 2024 season, all eyes turned to the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing driver as the man to beat. Little did anyone know quite how dominant he could be...

Donington Park National - Rounds 1-2-3

The opening rounds of the 2024 season could not have seen much worse weather to kick off a campaign. Throughout the testing conditions, it would be Taylor-Smith who would take the first win of the championship and would repeat the feat in race two with seventh and 11th place overall finishes.

Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing team-mate Mikey Doble would slot in behind the Irishman in the opening two races before taking home a triumph in race three. The duo would finish the opening weekend split by only three points.

The fight for third place between Restart Racing and Un-Limited Motorsport was split evenly across all remaining drivers. Not only splitting the podium but also all three drivers having a non-score finish. Daryl DeLeon would take to the rostrum in the drenched race one before Chris Smiley would do the same in race two, and then Scott Sumpton would take the place for the final race of the day.

Independent Drivers' Championship - Event 1

Brands Hatch Indy - Rounds 4-5-6

Taylor-Smith took momentum and continued to extend his championship lead at the second event of the season. It would be another class victory in the opening race of the weekend for the #40 before switching places with Doble as they alternated the top two steps on the rostrum in races one and two.

The championship leader would go on to win race three with an overall fourth place finish doing the double-double at the first two events. Doble would falter in race three after dropping through the order on the wrong tyres to take home fourth. In doing so it meant at both events so far that every driver would stand on the rostrum.

Smiley would be the driver to stand on the podium in race one as DeLeon would have his second non-score of the season. The Filipino driver would return to take the third spot in race two as it would be Sumpton who would fail to score in this race. Race three would see Smiley jump up to take the first non-Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing second-place finish, with Sumpton completing the Restart Racing double-podium.

Independent Drivers' Championship - Event 2

Snetterton - Rounds 7-8-9

The changeable conditions returned for the third event of the season, this time favouring Doble more than any other independent driver. Sunday did not start that way though as Taylor-Smith would take the win in the only all-wet race of the day, as Doble would finish second, with DeLeon bringing in his third podium of the year.

Risks began to get taken in race two as Taylor-Smith would pit after the green flag lap to get off the wet tyres and onto the softs. This would prove to be the wrong choice after initially setting fastest laps, the rain would return to hinder the end of the race. Doble would go on to take victory along with an overall fourth-place finish, sharing the podium with both DeLeon and Sumpton. This would be the fourth time in eight races to have all in-class-competitors finish.

Doble would stay on top in race three, cutting the gap to one point to his team-mate as DeLeon would also hold his position from race two. Behind, Taylor-Smith rose up the order to close out the weekend with a podium, as this time it would be Smiley who would not finish.

Independent Drivers' Championship - Event 3

Thruxton - Rounds 10-11-12

After a challenging Snetterton, Taylor-Smith could not have bounced back any better. The #40 would take home all three victories across the weekend despite a crash in qualifying that limited his starting position to 12th.

Doble would not have the pace of his team-mate across the weekend, unable to get close at any point. The #88 Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra would do the best with what was left on offer, coming home in second in all three races.

In fact, it would be the same podium across all three races as Smiley would return to the rostrum since the opening race at Snetterton. Placing Restart Racing on the podium at every race across a weekend for the first time in the teams' BTCC career.

Independent Drivers' Championship - Event 4

Oulton Park - Rounds 13-14-15

Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing ended the opening half of the campaign with its best weekend of the season to date. The opening two races would go the way of Taylor-Smith, who would hit the midway stage of the campaign having taken ten out of a possible 15 victories.

Doble would once again take home the second-place finishes behind his team-mate, as both drivers would have a total of 14 podiums from the 15 races. Continuing on from a triple-podium from Thruxton, Smiley would do the same once more to cement himself in third place halfway through the season.

Race three of the weekend is where the interest piqued as the duo of Doble and Taylor-Smith would lockout the front row of the overall grid. The #40 would defend behind the #88 early on before Jake Hill would break through. Doble would put up a superb defence but would lose out on the last lap of the race. Despite the heartbreak it was the Caterham-born drivers' first overall podium and a double-trip to the rostrum for the team to close out the first five events.

Independent Drivers' Championship - Event 5

Croft - Rounds 16-17-18

After taking three quarters of all victories in the opening half of the season, Taylor-Smith came break from the mid-season break as he left before it. The Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing driver took two independent victories in the opening two races of the day at Croft to extend his championship lead.

Doble, Taylor-Smith’s teammate, would see the rear bumper of his Vauxhall Astra counterpart for all of the trip to the North-Yorkshire venue. The #88 would finish in second in the Independent Drivers’ class as his team-mate won and would finish third in the final bout of the day.

In fact, the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing pair had won all of the races before said final bout, until Smiley broke the 100% record in Round 18. The Restart Racing driver would stand on the top step of the podium despite a non-score in the race before as a Cupra Leon would top a category for the first time this season.

Independent Drivers' Standings - Event 6

Knockhill - Rounds 19-20-21

As Taylor-Smith continued his first-half season form, the Irishman then repeated his points output from Croft again at Knockhill with two wins and a second-place finish. The battle behind would become tighter as Restart Racing continued to take steps forward.

Doble would initially start the day well, backing up his team-mate’s victory with a second-place finish. Form and fortune would not go the #88’s way, however, as a fourth-place finish and a non-score would round out his weekend north of the border.

Smiley would stand upon the podium in all three races with a second-place finish being the highlight of the day in the second contest. It would be his team-mate Sumpton who would dent the Vauxhall Astra’s win percentage with a victory in the final race of the day to close in on fourth-placed DeLeon (Duckhams Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport) to only two points.

Independent Drivers' Standings - Event 7

Donington Park GP - Rounds 22-23-24

After taking two victories at each event since the summer break, Taylor-Smith would not complete the same feat at Donington Park but instead winning all three races on the GP layout. The gap between the two Astras out in front would grow to 59 points before the final two events.

Smiley would outpace Doble to take home the second-place trophy in the opening bout of the day before luck would reverse for the pair from the previous event. The #88 would return to the second-place spot on the podium for the rest of the weekend as the Restart Racing driver would fall to third in race two before a non-score in race three.

DeLeon and Sumpton would equal each other after the opening two contests on the GP circuit remaining two points apart. Until Smiley’s misfortune in the final race would allow the pair to fight over a podium place in which the Duckhams Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport driver would take advantage to grow the points margin from two to four.

Independent Drivers' Standings - Event 8

Silverstone - Rounds 25-26-27

After a win in the opening exchange of race day, Taylor-Smith had secured four independent wins in a row, one away from his best streak of five in 2024 across Thruxton and Oulton Park. That feat would not be equalled as Smiley would take the top spot in the second race of the day.

The Restart Racing driver scored well at the penultimate weekend of the season only being outscored by the championship leader Taylor-Smith. On his way to doing so, the #222 had his best weekend of the season to date amassing 50 points in this class.

Doble had fallen further behind his #40-driving teammate, so much so that the Irishman had a lead that could be not be beaten come the last weekend of the year at Brands Hatch. The battle between Sumpton and DeLeon continued as the pair arrived and left Silverstone with the same points gap, four, heading into the final event.

Independent Drivers' Standings - Event 9

Brands Hatch GP - Rounds 28-29-30

The finale saw the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Duo take all the spoils as the team accumulated 27 out of a possible 30 victories across the season. Taylor-Smith took the top spot having won two thirds of all races in 2024, only winning race two at Brands Hatch.

Doble was all or nothing. The #88 won both race one and three but did not score in the second bout. This kept Smiley more than at bay as the Restart Racing driver sat on the podium for two out of the three races, cementing his position as best of the rest.

DeLeon would triple the size of the gap between himself and Sumpton as the Duckhams Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport driver would seal his best overall result of the campaign in the opening exchange. Securing two podiums at the final weekend, it was the #18's second-best weekend in the independents championship in 2024.

Independent Drivers' Standings - Event 10