Paddock Motorsport had a top-five result ripped from its grasp at Brands Hatch last weekend, with a late-race punt from a rival preventing the team for equalling its best British GT finish of the season. Mark Smith and Martin Plowman enjoyed their strongest endurance race outing of the season in the penultimate two-hour race of the year, with Paddock’s McLaren looking nailed-on for fifth place in Kent before being harpooned and spun out in the closing laps. Despite the collision, Smith and Plowman still battled to ninth place overall, adding yet more points to the team’s tally, even if it was scant reward for an otherwise superb performance. Paddock has made huge strides with the setup and operation of its McLaren GT3 across the course of this season, culminating in a season-best finish of fifth last time out at Snetterton. However, at Brands the team showed it had taken yet another step, with Plowman topping Saturday’s Pre-Qualifying session outright, pipping McLaren factory driver Marvin Kirchhöfer to the top time. That signalled good things for Qualifying that afternoon, however a shift in both track temperature and brake balance meant Smith and Plowman would line-up ninth, but knowing they would have a quick car beneath them come Sunday when temperatures would play back into their hands. This was evidenced when Smith got a superb start, passing the Orange Racing McLaren, picking up another spot when the race-leading Aston Martin was handed a penalty for a grid infraction, and then swooped past the Beechdean Aston Martin to grab sixth. And all this around a heavily disrupted opening half which featured two safety car periods, and on a track notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities. Smith brought the #9 in to switch with Plowman at the first opportunity, with the car filtering back out in fifth after some superb work from the Paddock technical crew to get the McLaren up and running on fresh tyres bang on its minimum pit time. Plowman then found himself defending from the Team Parker Racing Porsche in the hands of factory driver Sven Müller. The German repeatedly attacked but Plowman covered off his advances at every turn. Things came to a head when the Porsche tried to steam up the inside at Surtees, clipping the rear-left of the McLaren and spinning Plowman to the side of the track. Fortunately, Plowman was able to re-fire the car and rejoin, but the damage had been done. The team opted to roll the dice during one final safety car period and pit an extra time for fresh tyres, hoping the extra grip could help Plowman make up some ground over the closing minutes. But ninth would be the limit. It still brought a handful of points, but the excellent team effort had deserved more.

Paddock Motorsport will roar back into British GT action this weekend at Brands Hatch, as Mark Smith and Martin Plowman aim to build on a season-best performance last time out. This weekend’s visit to the former Formula 1 venue in Kent marks the start of the run-in of British GT’s season, with just two race weekends remaining. Brands Hatch hosts the penultimate two-hour race of the year, with its legendary Grand Prix Circuit also representing one of the toughest challenges on the calendar. The Paddock team heads into the event in a strong position, with its #9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo now an established challenger for the top-six places. During the last round at Snetterton the team went even better, with Smith and Plowman securing a season-best result of fifth in the opening sprint race and then going on to bank yet more points in race two, putting the pair inside the top 10 in the championship standings. Smith has also shown strong form around the Grand Prix Circuit at Brands, having dominated the GT Cup event held there back in May, winning three of the four races solo. That running could prove vital to making a fast start this weekend as local noise restrictions forbid the British GT field from having any form of test day on the 2.4-mile track ahead of the event, meaning all teams and drivers go straight into Saturday’s opening practice session cold. The very nature of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit also makes it a huge challenge. While the shorter Indy Circuit is perhaps one of the best-known tracks in the UK, the GP loop is an entirely different beast, threading through the woods at high speed and featuring big elevation changes, blind apexes and corners that demand a driver and car to be in complete harmony to attain the best lap time. Overtaking on the narrow track can also be notoriously tricky, placing an extra emphasis on qualifying well on Saturday. 

Paddock Motorsport scored its best result of the British GT Championship season last weekend with a hard-earned fifth place for Martin Plowman and Mark Smith during the Snetterton 300 double-header. Under a baking heatwave for much of the weekend, the #9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Plowman and Smith backed up its best Qualifying performance of the year with a superb top-five finish in Race 1 around the three-mile circuit, then adding to that with eighth in a scrappy second contest. The Paddock duo arrived in Norfolk hopeful of lowering their previous best result of seventh, earned from the year’s first sprint race meeting at Oulton Park in May. While temperatures on track soared, the pace was equally hot for the #9 crew as they climbed into the top five in Pre-Qualifying on Saturday afternoon, giving them room for optimism ahead of the two short 10-minute Qualifying sessions. It would be a star performance from seven-time GT Cup race winner Smith that made the headlines, setting a lap quick enough for fifth on the grid for the opener and finishing as the fastest McLaren in the GT3 field. Plowman then followed up with 10th in Q2 despite sitting only a second shy of pole after a breathless contest. It all set the scene for Sunday, with Smith taking the rolling start for the opening encounter. Although he lost a spot initially, the American maintained a consistent pace to close onto the leading pack, holding station in sixth before diving in for Plowman when the pit window opened. A superbly executed stop from the team got Plowman installed and back out in fifth, the car elevated by some others ahead serving longer mandatory pit stops. Plowman emerged ahead of Hugo Cook’s Barwell Lamborghini, and the Huracan began to pressure Plowman over the final 15 minutes before Cook himself came under attack, releasing the Paddock McLaren to pull clear and bring home a best result of the campaign for himself and Smith in fifth place overall. It also maintained Paddock’s place as the top McLaren team in the opening contest. Riding high, Plowman took the start of Race 2. Their efforts to gain ground were aided by on off for a rival McLaren ahead of them, leaving Plowman in a tight battle with Marcus Clutton’s Orange Racing McLaren. Plowman got the run on Clutton in traffic late on in his stint, but was rudely shoved onto the grass when attempting to run around the outside of the Orange car through Riches. Plowman did well to hold the car as it skipped across the grass and through a marker board at high speed, rejoining the track losing just one spot. Smith took over shortly after the incident and rejoined still running in ninth. His pace brought him into the battle for a possible sixth, but with overtaking opportunities limited, the American instead kept his nose clean and banked solid points for eighth. Their combined results meant Smith and Plowman enjoyed their best-ever weekend score as a pairing, elevating them to ninth in the GT3 Drivers’ Championship.