Paddock Motorsport put on a spirited display during the British GT season finale at Brands Hatch last weekend, with both its cars showing the sort of pace that brings big points, even if circumstances conspired against them. Mark Smith and Martin Plowman enjoyed a superb start to the final two-hour race of the year, running comfortably in the fight for the top six before some damage led to a seized door on their McLaren GT3 during their pit stop, and a desperately unlucky penalty then robbed them of an outright top-10 finish. Likewise, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley excelled across the race, gradually picking up places until the crew found themselves not only in the battle for a breakthrough GT4 Pro-Am podium, but potentially a class win before their hopes were dashed when the #12 was caught in a collision late on. Regardless of the results, Paddock Motorsport still heads into the winter break having enjoyed a strong 2024 British GT season. This year marked the team’s biggest entry ever, with three cars and six drivers. From those the team has celebrated two GT4 podium finishes and established itself as a regular challenger to the outright top six. Smith and Plowman have also enjoyed a strong run-in, finishing inside the top five in the GT3 Pro-Am class in each of the last two races helping them to ninth in the class championship. Despite the non-score in the finale, McDermott and Cowley round out the year eighth in GT4 Pro-Am. Brands Hatch represented one final chance to push for big scores, and neither car wasted that initially as Smith made a blinding start to vault from 11th on the grid up to eighth. Even though he lost out to a rival BMW when he was baulked by GT4 traffic around the Druids hairpin, Smith showed consistent pace and was soon duelling with newly crowned Silver-Am champion Shaun Balfe’s Garage 59 McLaren. Balfe went for a lunge into Graham Hill corner but collided with the side of the Paddock McLaren, and that would have consequences when Smith brought the car in for its mandatory stop. As he and Plowman attempted to switch seats, the McLaren’s door jammed shut after the hit, forcing the crew to complete their change via the wrong side of the car, sliding across the chassis from the passenger door. That cost vital time, with Plowman emerging in 10th to rejoin the race. A disrupted second half littered by full course yellow caution periods meant he never really got the chance to attack those in front, and things took a turn when the car was handed a drive-through penalty when Plowman accidentally clipped the rear of a GT4 car in front that had braked unexpectedly heading onto the pit straight. The #9 would finish 11th overall, but that did at least mean the car brought home some points due to some non-scoring guest entries ahead. It also put them fifth in the points-scoring Pro-Am order, which on reflection is a fine result, it just should have been more. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 also endured a dramatic race. McDermott took the start and began to rise up the order as he too picked cars off one by one. The car made its way inside the top five in class before McDermott stopped to hand to Cowley, and a slick change got the car out and up to fourth in class, right behind the rival Mahiki Racing Lotus. With a first podium, and even the class leader, in sight, Cowley pushed as hard as he could until a rare error entering Stirlings sparked a collision that would rule the car out. Still, there’s no denying the progress the crew has made across recent races. Paddock Motorsport will now reset and begin planning for the 2025 campaign, but not before it has rounded out the GT Cup season at Snetterton this coming weekend.

Paddock Motorsport is geared up for one final British GT Championship attack in 2024 as the season finale at Brands Hatch beckons. After six events and a combined 14 hours of racing so far, the 2024 British GT campaign will come to a close with a two-hour contest in Kent this weekend, giving Paddock’s twin entries one final chance to shine. The McLaren 720S GT3 Evo will again be shared by Mark Smith and Martin Plowman, with the pair confident of pushing on from their best result of the year so far last time out at Donington Park. Despite a bruising two-hour race in Derbyshire, Smith and Plowman still brought the #9 car home eighth overall and fifth in the GT3 Pro-Am category to record their biggest points haul to date. Likewise, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 shared by Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley also goes into the finale on an upward curve, having made huge progress across recent races. The pair have been knocking on the door of the GT4 Pro-Am podium, having finished fourth in the category in each of the last two races. Last time out at Donington represented their most impressive performance yet, the pair also finishing fourth overall from the 19-strong GT4 field. This weekend will mark the first time since 2009 that Brands Hatch has hosted the final race of the season, and the 2.4-mile Grand Prix Circuit represents a unique challenge to drivers and teams. While the shorter Indy Circuit is one of the most-used tracks in the UK, the GP loop through the woods is an altogether different beast, featuring big elevation changes, fast turns and blink apexes. The circuit’s strict noise restrictions also mean testing is extremely limited there, with no British GT teams able to get up and running before practice on Saturday, meaning everybody must start from scratch. 

Paddock Motorsport may have taken some blows during last weekend’s British GT Championship event at Donington Park, but the team’s sheer perseverance shone through as its two cars celebrated their best points finishes to date. Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley produced their best performance of the season so far to finish a superb fourth overall in GT4 aboard their Mercedes-AMG, coming agonisingly close to a breakthrough podium. Mark Smith and Martin Plowman’s GT3 McLaren may have been roughed up more than once, but the pair fought on to finish an eventual eighth overall, and an impressive fifth in the GT3 Pro-Am class, also securing their best points haul of the year. The fact the team leaves the penultimate race of the year having faced down the challenges thrown at it and come out the other side with a season-best score speaks volumes about the rate of improvement and sheer fighting spirit within the squad. Both of Paddock’s cars proved themselves as ones to watch from early in the weekend, with both the McLaren and the Mercedes-AMG showing pace that would make them contenders in the two-hour race. After two practice sessions in mixed conditions, qualifying took place on a largely dry track, with Smith and Plowman placing the GT3 12th on the grid on combined times, and McDermott and Cowley sixth in GT4 Pro-Am, 13th overall in GT4. Sunday promised much, with the weather clearing for a fully dry race, and both Paddock cars put on a slick showing, despite more than a few obstacles being chucked in the road. The first one came early, when Smith was forced to take avoiding action into turn one as the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes GT3 that had started on the front row was tipped into a spin and came to rest broadside across Smith’s bonnet. The quick-thinking American took to the gravel and, while he avoided damage, the lost time dropped the car to the tail of the field. Undeterred, Smith put on a great charge, scything through the GT4 traffic ahead to recatch the GT3 field. He then engaged in a tight fight with the J&S Motorsport Audi and Century Motorsport BMW, eventually working his way up to eighth and suddenly the car was back in with a chance. That was until Smith was punted into a spin by the chasing Garage 59 McLaren, the Paddock car coming to a rest right in the middle of the track. Mercifully everybody missed Smith, who did well to restart the machine and get out of trouble. He pitted for Plowman from tenth, and a well-timed stop from the Paddock crew got the car back out in ninth. The lost time would prove impossible to claw back, but Plowman pressed on and picked up a further place when the Team Abba Mercedes-AMG crashed out late on. In GT4, things were more straightforward, even if McDermott and Cowley kept the nerves jangling by coming agonisingly close to their first silverware of the season. Having been blocked on two of his fastest laps in qualifying, McDermott was fired up to make progress in the race, and did not hold back when the lights went out, taking advantage of the opening lap chaos to make his way up to fifth in class on the opening lap. The momentum didn’t let up, as McDermott’s consistency helped him gain a full six places overall by the time the pit window opened, also slipping past the rival Xentek Motorsport Porsche to run fourth in Pro-Am by the time he stopped to hand to Cowley. Cowley rejoined eight second behind the Century Motorsport BMW that ran third in class and, with a podium in sight, he began to eat into the gap, trimming tenths off the M4 with each lap. Cowley had just got within sight when the safety car was called following a scary accident for a Ginetta at Melbourne Hairpin that required lengthy barrier damage repairs. With just two laps of green-flag running left when racing did resume, Cowley piled the pressure on the BMW ahead but was run wide, eventually settling for fourth in class and fifth overall at the flag. That then became fourth overall when the Optimum McLaren was penalised post-race for speeding under the caution period. It may not have been a podium, but there’s no doubting how impressive McDermott and Cowley’s performance was, and the duo will be hopeful of going even better in the season finale at Brands Hatch later in the month.

Paddock Motorsport will resume its British GT Championship charge at Donington Park this weekend, with the squad’s local circuit presenting a great opportunity to score big points on home turf. The Tamworth-based team will return to action with the twin attack of Mark Smith and Martin Plowman’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo alongside the Mercedes-AMG GT4 shared by Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley. Paddock’s regular McLaren Artura GT4 entry will be rested for this event due to circumstances beyond the team’s control, but work is underway to return the car to the grid for the season finale at Brands Hatch later this month. This weekend marks the year’s second visit to the 2.5-mile Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit, with the lessons learned from the first race there back in May giving the team a useful foundation to build upon. It is also the circuit that Californian driver Smith knows best, having made his debut with the team at the Derbyshire track back in 2022. The GT3 crew showed some impressive pace during the last three-hour event at Donington, but were set back by several doses of misfortune – not least a puncture and then Plowman being turfed off the track and into the gravel by a wayward rival. Likewise, the Mercedes-AMG has been steadily improving across the course of the season and goes into Donington off the back of its best result of the season, McDermott and Cowley fighting to fourth place in class during the last sprint race at Snetterton. Paddock as a team has already tasted success at Donington, with the Artura scoring its first class podium of the season there back in May. With this weekend’s event being a more straightforward two-hour race, it should allow both the GT3 and GT4 crews to show their true pace in what will be a flat-out blast to the flag.

Alex Walker and Adam Hatfield came seconds away from yet more British GT Championship silverware for Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren Artura GT4, on an otherwise tricky weekend for the team at Snetterton (13/14 July). A pair of hour-long races awaited the Paddock Motorsport trio in Norfolk, Walker and Hatfield coming closest to celebrations after another fighting performance in the GT4 Silver category. After two podiums in recent British GT rounds, the Artura scored a brace of fourth-place finishes at Snetterton to continue its push in the class points. Paddock’s other two crews were less fortunate across the double-header. A spin in both races hampered the progress of its McLaren GT3, driven by Martin Plowman and Mark Smith, while the Mercedes-AMG GT4 duo of Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley beat race one disappointment to end Sunday with a season-best result of fourth in Pro-Am. The three Paddock crews returned from the European event at Spa-Francorchamps focused on adding to a growing trophy haul, with two Snetterton sprint races to sink their teeth into. Rain threatened during both Saturday morning practice sessions, but a dry track greeted the drivers for Qualifying in the afternoon. Smith was first up in the 720S and set a time good enough for sixth in GT3 Pro-Am, Plowman backing that up with ninth on his run. Of the GT4 teams, the #11 Artura bagged a pair of top-five starts in the Silver category, while McDermott and Cowley planted the Mercedes-AMG sixth and seventh in Pro-Am respectively for the races. Race one on Sunday did not start as planned for the GT3 entry of Smith, after he suffered a minor spin on cold tyres following a three-wide squeeze at the Wilson hairpin. Left with work to do, the McLaren fought its way from the back of the pack up onto the fringes of the top 10 to claim eighth place in class by the finish. In GT4 it was much more promising. Hatfield started the Artura and kept pace with the battling pack, handing over to Walker in a top-six position in Silver. The latter then moved ahead of Zac Meakin’s similar McLaren before catching and passing Erik Evans’ Ford Mustang for fourth in class, finishing just three seconds shy of what could have been the car’s third consecutive podium. The Mercedes-AMG duo were less fortunate despite a positive start, with a stop-go penalty in the second half of the race dropping them to sixth in Pro-Am. A frenetic second race again proved a mixed bag. GT4 ended with positives for both crews, Hatfield chasing a class podium after an inspired opening stint by Walker to move the Artura up into fourth before handing across to Hatfield. After a safety car closed things up inside the final 20 minutes, Hatfield pushed hard but was limited to fourth in class, just under two seconds from the podium places. A super effort from Cowley and McDermott rewarded them with a season’s best result of fourth in Pro-Am, bringing some much-deserved points to the Mercedes side of the garage. Paddock’s GT3 McLaren was limited to a solid seventh in Pro-Am, after Smith was punted into a spin in the second half but recovered well to score enough points to keep himself and Plowman inside the top-10 in the class championship. The recent consistency of the #11 Artura has also boosted Walker’s standing in the GT4 Silver championship, with him now running third in the points with two rounds remaining.

The British GT Championship will return to its twin sprint race format at Snetterton this weekend, presenting Paddock Motorsport with double the chance to continue its current podium hot streak. Following its European away day at Spa, the championship makes the trip to Norfolk for two one-hour races around the three-mile Snetterton 300 Circuit this weekend for the sixth and seventh races of the season. The return to the sprint format strips the racing back, removing almost all strategic flexibility in favour of a pair of flat-out 60-minute blasts from lights to flag, placing the emphasis on sheer speed over anything else. After a positive last few events, all three of Paddock’s crews head to Snetterton confident of scoring some big points across the three classes the team will compete in. With two pieces of silverware from the last two events, the McLaren Artura of Alex Walker and Adam Hatfield will be aiming to complete a hat-trick having marked itself out as one of the entries to watch in the GT4 Silver category. Walker has been the mainstay of the #11, and has celebrated third-place finishes alongside both Blake Angliss and Hatfield thus far, with Hatfield continuing for this event. Hatfield has already been a podium finisher at Snetterton this year during Paddock’s GT Cup campaign, so is already fully up to speed with the Artura on this circuit. The McLaren 720S GT3 Evo shared by Mark Smith and Martin Plowman again showed itself to be a genuine contender for the top six places in Belgium, with Smith in particular displaying great race pace. A lot of progress has been made with the car’s setup and operation up to this point, with the crew often simply on the wrong side of Lady Luck across the longer races. Hopefully the short, sharp sprint format can deliver the sort of results both drivers deserve in the headline GT3 Pro-Am category. Spa was also positive for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 shared by Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley. After a troubled start to the season, the pair have begun to show glimpses of their true potential across recent races. Spa was never going to be an easy ride for the crew with McDermott having to learn one of the world’s most daunting tracks having never raced there previously, but regardless they came through what turned out to be a bruising two-hour race for others to score sixth place in GT4 Pro-Am. With all of its drivers now back on familiar ground, hopes are high of adding yet more trophies to Paddock’s ever-growing collection this weekend.

Alex Walker and Adam Hatfield secured a hard-fought second British GT Championship podium in succession for Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren Artura GT4, on an otherwise challenging weekend for the team at Spa-Francorchamps (22/23 June). During a truncated two-hour race at the iconic Belgian circuit that included an early break in proceedings, Walker and new team-mate Hatfield fought back from a lowly grid position of 11th to be in the hunt for a stunning GT4 Silver class podium by its conclusion. Fourth soon became third in class after a rival Ginetta was slapped with a penalty, leaving Walker to bring it home and confirm further silverware for the team. In stark contrast, there was less fortune for Paddock’s other two crews in the Ardennes. A penalty and additional unplanned stops hampered its McLaren GT3, driven by Martin Plowman and Mark Smith, while flashes of speed for Mercedes-AMG GT4 duo Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley ultimately went unrewarded after a drive-through of their own. All three Paddock entries headed into Europe for British GT’s annual ‘away day’ event, returning to the picturesque Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the first time in two years. Plowman and Smith both shone throughout wet and dry practice on Saturday, and bagged a ninth place start in GT3. The GT4 qualifying sessions were abandoned after an accident, meaning pre-qualifying decided its grid. McDermott and Cowley were given a promising fifth in Pro-Am, Walker and Hatfield hit harder in 11th with the latter having not registering a proper flying lap. The race on Sunday began in chaotic fashion and was quickly red-flagged, Smith taking to the grass to skillfully evade a multi-car wreck ahead of him in GT3. One of the big winners in this would be the Artura GT4, which moved up four places to seventh overall for the restart. What followed was a race dictated largely by track limits violations. Hatfield drove a controlled stint to keep the #11 Artura in GT4 Silver contention, handing the car over to Walker in fifth place. Walker then caught and passed the Mercedes of Harry George for fourth, and began chasing for a class podium in the final half-hour. With less than 10 minutes on the clock, luck was on the Paddock team’s side this time as Stuart Middleton pitted ahead to serve a drive-through penalty, bumping Walker and Hatfield up to sixth overall in GT4 and, crucially, third in class to complete an excellent comeback drive to a second successive podium. Among the many pinged for track limits, the Paddock GT3 McLaren 720S was another unlucky victim. A drive-through penalty in the closing minutes limited Plowman and Smith to ninth place in GT3 Pro-Am, having broken into the top 10 after their unscheduled early stop to clear grass from the McLaren’s radiators. The Mercedes-AMG duo of McDermott and Cowley looked in strong shape after the restart, getting back underway in third place in GT4 Pro-Am. As stops cycled through, the podium began to edge away from the pairing, but a late drive-through penalty for track limits ended any opportunity for the charging Cowley as they took the chequered flag sixth in class. With more silverware in the travel bag, Walker leaves Spa now sitting third in the Silver class championship with four rounds to go.

After enjoying its first taste of the podium champagne last time out, Paddock Motorsport is fired up to fight for more honours when the British GT Championship rolls into the legendary Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. Having been absent from the calendar last season in favour of a trip to Portimão in Portugal, the iconic venue in the Belgian Ardennes returns for 2024 and presents perhaps the biggest challenge on the British GT schedule. Spa’s mixture of medium- and high-speed corners demand complete commitment from drivers, and more than few big stops thrown in to add to the challenge of the 7km lap. The track also boasts the highest top speeds of the year, with the fastest GT3 cars nudging 170mph by the end of the Kemmel Straight. Large sections of the track have also been resurfaced, meaning lap times could tumble on the fresh Tarmac, with British GT being the first championship to try the new surface. Paddock will field its regular trio of cars, but with a key change in the #11 McLaren Artura GT4 as Adam Hatfield makes his British GT return after a two-year absence to partner Alex Walker in the car that scored second place in GT4 Silver last time out at Donington Park. Walker has proven himself a frontrunner in the class, and Hatfield has already shown formidable speed by claiming podium finishes in the GT Cup during his return to racing earlier this season. Together the two should be well in the mix. American Mark Smith and Martin Plowman are up for the fight this round, especially with the duo having great experience around Spa. The team held a successful test at the track earlier in the year, and Smith also contested the 12 Hours of Spa back in April, so is already well attuned to the track layout. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 crew is unchanged, with Ed McDermott and reigning British GT4 champion Matt Cowley keen to overturn a disappointing start to the season and finally get some big points on the board in GT4 Pro-Am. This weekend a total of 38 cars will take part in the year’s first two-hour race, which presents a more straightforward format, with just a single pitstop and driver changed required, otherwise it’s flat out to the flag.

Alex Walker and Blake Angliss celebrated their breakthrough British GT Championship podium on a challenging weekend at Donington Park, the McLaren Artura GT4’s success proving a superb highlight for the Paddock Motorsport team. Walker and Angliss were in the mix throughout Sunday’s three-hour race, which was made tougher by constantly changing conditions and a string of caution periods. In fact, if it hadn’t have been for sheer bad luck with the timing of the penultimate full course yellow, the #11 McLaren could well have won the race outright. As it was, second place in GT4 Silver for Walker and Angliss still stands as a superb result. In contrast, there was disappointment for both the McLaren GT3 crew of Mark Smith and Martin Plowman, who endured a bruising race, as did the Mercedes-AMG GT4 shared by Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley. Both cars showed flashes of pace, only to be left unrewarded by sheer bad luck. All three of Paddock’s crews showed top-five potential across their various classes during the opening practice sessions, something that was backed up by a strong qualifying performance. Smith in particular shone in the GT3 session, setting the seventh fastest time with a terrific effort. Plowman backed up the hard work by going eighth in the Pro session, securing a start on row four. The combined efforts of Walker and Angliss meant the Artura would start sixth, with McDermott and Cowley sixth on the Pro-Am grid. The race itself would prove treacherous, with intermittent showers soaking all or part of the track at various intervals, leading to more than a few doses of chaos. Through it all, Walker and Angliss shone with Paddock’s Artura GT4 being a star of the show. A tremendous opening stint from Walker brought the car up as high as second, with Walker pressuring the championship-leading Optimum McLaren before handing across to Angliss, who kept things tidy during a difficult second stint on slicks when the rain returned and grip levels dramatically reduced. The race suffered a lengthy stoppage when multiple cars hit standing water at Redgate, but the Artura navigated the trouble brilliantly, with Walker resuming his hunt of the Optimum McLaren heading into the final hour. Knowing his rival would have to serve an extra 20 seconds during its pit stop after Optimum’s win last time out at Silverstone, Walker didn’t actually have to pass to be in with a shot of the win. However, luck intervened when Walker made his final stop to hand to Angliss with the race at full speed, only for a full course yellow period to be called soon after, handing their rivals a free stop at reduced speed. The events cost Walker and Angliss a lap, but a combination of their early pace and great work from Angliss during the final stint meant they were still comfortably clear of those behind. While fourth overall at the finish was the limit, but they were rewarded with second in the Silver category. This high came against a tough race for both the GT3 and Mercedes-AMG. Smith ran comfortably within the top seven during the first stint, but ultimately stayed on wet-weather tyres too long as rain threatened to return but didn’t arrive soon enough. The further combination of a puncture and Plowman being rudely turfed into the gravel after being caught by the understeering RAM Racing BMW made it a fruitless weekend. The Mercedes ran well early on, but lost time behind the first safety car and McDermott then suffered an unlucky spin entering the chicane that put the car into the gravel. Still, all three crews head to the next event at Spa-Francorchamps knowing they have the pace to score big.