Paddock Motorsport enjoyed what was perhaps its strongest weekend of the 2023 Intelligent Money British GT Championship season yet at Donington Park, even if the team was robbed of its best results of the year across both its cars.
Kavi Jundu and Tom Rawlings should have been hunting a GT4 Pro-Am podium aboard their Artura GT4, but early damage limited them to fifth in class in the two-hour race.
Likewise, Mark Smith and Martin Plowman were on course for their best-ever British GT result as a pairing, holding a place within the top seven before late contact led to a desperately unlucky puncture that set them back to 10th overall and eighth in the GT3 Pro-Am class.
Regardless, both of Paddock’s cars showed impressive pace over the Donington Park weekend, largely thanks to a huge team effort across Saturday.
Some pre-event testing helped both the engineers and drivers better understand the setup options for the new Artura GT4, and Jundu and Rawlings were a regular fixture within the top three in the GT4 Pro-Am class, eventually leading them to qualifying a superb second on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Smith and Plowman identified an issue with the differential on their 720S GT3 – something the team suspects had been worsening across the course of the year so far. The decision was made to skip much of Saturday practice in order to replace the whole differential and gearbox, something that breathed new life into the GT3. While the duo would start 11th in class on Sunday, the real breakthrough would come in the race.
Smith wasted little time in switching to attack mode, quickly picking off the McLarens of both Ian Campbell and Mark Radcliffe, and then went on something of an overtaking spree. By mid-distance Smith had brought the #11 Paddock McLaren into a superb seventh place courtesy of a string of great overtakes and others hitting trouble around him.
A lengthy safety car – called to enable both the clean-up of a GT3 crash at McLeans and the necessary barrier repairs – limited Plowman’s race time when the pair relayed with just under an hour remaining, the Paddock crew doing a great job in the frantic pit lane to get the car serviced and back out in sixth place.
When racing did resume for the final 25 minutes, Plowman lost a place to the flying BMW M4 of factory driver Dan Harper, but was successfully keeping the Enduro Motorsport McLaren of Marcus Clutton at bay with seventh place firmly in his sights. However, when a hit from the chasing McLaren punctured the right-rear tyre, Plowman was forced to pit for a replacement, dropping the car to 10th at the flag.
In GT4, Jundu took the start from second on the grid, and soon came under pressure from Carl Cavers’ Century Motorsport BMW. With the M4 enjoying a straight-line-speed advantage on the Artura, Jundu fell behind it on the straight but was crawling all over Cavers through the first sector in an effort to get the place back. He went for a move into the hairpin, only for the BMW to squeeze across. The resulting contact damaged the front of the Artura and knocked the steering out. The resulting loss of aero made the race a battle from then on, something that was compounded by a drive-through penalty earned when the sliding McLaren strayed one too many times off the track.
He and Rawlings managed the wounded car to the flag in fifth place to at least bag some more points for the team.
Mark Smith said: “I loved my stint! I was pulling moves all over the place and the car felt superb throughout. The team did an amazing job with the gearbox and differential change, which just breathed new life into the car and I could really attack people. I got stuck behind [reigning British GT champion] Ian Loggie and that sort of stunted our progress as I couldn’t find a way past. It’s a shame about the clash at the end, but it’s part of racing. But hopefully we can press on from the gains we found this weekend and the results will come.”
Martin Plowman said: “When we finished 11th at Silverstone it felt like a mini win, but finishing 10th this time feels a bit more like a robbery! The team did a brilliant job with the technical changes we needed, and they really improved the car, especially for Mark, who drove a tremendous opening stint to make up so many places. I was just defending at the end when I got the hit on the right-rear, which punctured the tyre and from then there was nothing I could do. Still, the team got the car back out and we grabbed some points. It’s been a real team effort this weekend, we just missed that little bit of luck that could have made the difference.”
Kavi Jundu said: “We definitely took a step forward this weekend as we enjoyed a really competitive car across Saturday, and we would have had one for Sunday too, but it was just bad luck that denied us. At the start I was fighting hard with one of the BMWs, which are so fast in a straight line, but we had the edge through the twisty stuff. I went for a move and the BMW just kept coming across and I had nowhere to go, that damaged the front end and from then the steering was about 15-degrees out. Every time I turned right the car slid wide and that contributed toward the track limits. It’s good that we still got to the finish, we just need that bit of luck to get the results we really deserve.”
Tom Rawlings said: “It’s been a tough weekend but there are positives. We felt we had a really strong car on Saturday, one that we could really fight with and we were well in the hunt for a class pole position. Kavi then got unlucky at the start of the race, and when I got in for the second stint the car’s balance was all over the place due to the damage and it was pulling to one side whenever I got hard on the brakes. I just had to nurse it as best I could. But I’m really glad that we moved forward with the car’s pace, and hopefully we can come out fighting at Snetterton.”
The next round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship tales place at Snetterton on June 17/18.