Paddock Motorsport put in a fighting performance during the British GT Championship season-opener at Donington Park last weekend, with Mark Smith and Martin Plowman defying a worsening mechanical issue to secure a decent haul of points. A deteriorating differential across the final half of the two-hour race, allied to being boxed-in during their pit stop limited what could have been a top-six performance for the crew. However, Paddock’s #9 McLaren still showed bags of potential across the event, which puts the team in a strong position going forward. With the entire Donington weekend taking place under glorious spring sunshine, Paddock set about honing the 720S GT3 Evo’s setup to the 2.5-mile Grand Prix circuit. After racking up some useful mileage during Practice, there was a setback when Smith slipped into the gravel during Pre-Qualifying picking up some splitter and floor damage that would need to be repaired. Despite the lost running, the team went into Qualifying in confident mood, with Smith putting in a great effort during his run to slot the McLaren into seventh overall. Plowman then backed up the hard work to ensure Paddock would start Sunday’s race from ninth overall. In fact, the margins were so fine that one extra tenth would have put the crew sixth in the grid instead. Smith took the wheel for the start and immediately looked to make progress. However, his Pirelli tyres took longer than expected to find their bite, leaving him embroiled in a thrilling four-car duel with the #3 Optimum McLaren, #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche and #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini. Despite briefly dropping to the tail of this pack, Smith put on a great show as he gradually worked his way back through as the McLaren came into its performance window. A brave pass on the Optimum McLaren – which included some door banging and Smith running with two wheels on the grass at one point – was a real highlight. Having gained back the positions, Smith settled into seventh right before the race was neutralised to clear a Lotus that had been shoved into the gravel. The resulting safety car bunched the pack and put Smith on the tail of the Team Abba Mercedes when the pit window opened and he dived in to hand to Plowman. This was where the first misfortune struck as the Paddock McLaren was blocked in the tight pit lane, with the resulting delay to work the car free costing the crew around 24 seconds. Plowman rejoined in ninth and had just got up to speed when the car’s handling began to suffer due to a suspected differential issue. Despite the issues, Plowman soldiered on and successfully held off the #3 McLaren to take the flag in position. However, the team was elevated a further place following the exclusion of the #67 McLaren for a parc ferme infringement, leaving Smith and Plowman firmly in the points-paying places in eighth overall and seventh of the Pro-Am runners. Mark Smith said: “It’s a bit of a disappointing result because we definitely could have had more. We felt we had a quick car, but for the first few laps I didn’t have much grip so perhaps we went out with pressures that were a little optimistic. That put me into the pack and cost me a few spots and then I had to make my way back through, which was fun but a lot of effort. A few drivers really had their elbows out, but I was determined to make the moves count. Things were looking good until I started to feel the diff toward the end of my stint, and then we got delayed in our pit and lost a chunk of time. I know the problem then held Martin back quite badly, so we’ll investigate that and get back at it for Silverstone.” Martin Plowman said: “As season-openers go, it wasn’t the smoothest for us, but we have a lot of positives to take from it. Mark drove brilliantly during his opening stint and pulled off some excellent passing moves, which shows he’s full of confidence, and the entire technical team worked really well all weekend. The race was looking positive for us before the pit delay, and then when I got into the car the rear was gradually getting looser and looser, so I was hanging on to an extent. Considering that, to come away with some decent points is always a plus. We’ll get back to base, strip the differential and gearbox down and come back fighting at Silverstone at the end of the month.” Paddock Motorsport is next in action for the biggest race of the British GT season, the Silverstone 500, across the weekend of April 25-27.

Paddock Motorsport will commence its fifth British GT Championship campaign at Donington Park this weekend, with the team carrying winning momentum into the opening race of the season. Mark Smith and Martin Plowman will again share the team’s #9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo this year and enter their third full campaign together arguably better prepared than ever before thanks to some impressive pre-season performances. Just last weekend American driver Smith excelled during the GT Cup race weekend, which was also held at the Derbyshire circuit. After securing two podium finishes from the twin sprint races on Saturday, Smith then celebrated his breakthrough GT3 victory after an epic performance driving solo in the 100-minute endurance event. Smith outran a tightly-packed field that included many British GT regulars, and even defied splitter damage to eventually hold off the rival Track Focused McLaren by 0.024s in a nail-biting finish. It was a standout performance from Smith, who this year has made a point of conducting additional testing and gaining extra race mileage with the aim of breaking into the podium places in British GT. The landmark result shows that he will go into the opening two-hour race of the year fully up to speed and ready to fight for a top result in the UK’s premier sportscar series. Likewise, Plowman played a major role in aiding Smith’s success via his coaching and team management role. Plus, Paddock can now call on the experience and knowledge of top GT3 race engineer Toby Phillips, who has formerly worked on factory programmes with Lamborghini and Bentley and counts multiple success in both British and European GT3 racing on his impressive CV. The team has also taken in successful tests in both Portugal and the UK over the off-season and has been able to further refine the setup and performance of the McLaren GT3. With both Smith and Plowman well dialled into the McLaren well before the first official British GT session even begins, hopes are high that the team can continue its push to the front.

Paddock Motorsport will field a twin attack for its maiden McLaren Trophy Europe campaign, with an entry each into the championship’s Pro-Am and Am categories. British GT race-winner Thomas Holland will make the step into European competition this year, and will be partnered in the Pro-Am entry with experienced GT and touring car racer Nick Halstead. The team’s second car will run in the Am category, with former British GT and GT Cup racer Tim Docker driving solo. Having celebrated multiple race wins and podium finishes across domestic competitions since its first season in 2021, Paddock Motorsport will now take its first steps into European competition with its two new McLaren Artura Trophy Evo cars. Capable of producing in excess of 580PS – and up to 620PS thanks to a new push-to-pass boost system – the machines promise to take the Artura platform to a new level. Holland and Halstead will undoubtedly be ones to watch aboard the #40 Pro-Am car. Holland, 22, began his GT racing career in Ginetta machinery, finishing second in the G40 Cup in 2021 before progressing through the British marque’s GT Academy series and into GT4. He became a race winner on his first attempt in British GT in 2023, and added a second success in the season finale at Brands Hatch last year. Halstead, 52, makes a return to GT racing after two years competing in the British Touring Car Championship. Having started his racing career in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge in 2017, he claimed that title at his second attempt before finishing third in class in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup in 2020. A move into the British GT Championship followed where he became an outright race winner aboard a McLaren 720S GT3 at Spa-Francorchamps in 2022. Docker, 59, will handle Paddock’s #78 Artura Trophy Evo in the Am class. He has experience of competing in both GT and touring cars. A 2016 rookie in the Volkswagen Racing Cup, Docker then upgraded to TCR cars, racing in TCR UK and Britcar where he won Driver of the Year in 2018 and the Class 4 Championship in 2019, as a solo driver. He switched to GT4 machinery in 2021, claiming several GT Cup class wins and podium finishes in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He competed with Paddock in an Artura GT4 during 2023 before contesting last year’s British GT Championship in an Audi R8 LMS GT4. In January 2024 he finished second in the GT4 class at the 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi and in January this year he celebrated a landmark victory in the GT4 class of the Dubai 24 Hours.

The Paddock Motorsport will expand its GT3 operation this season, with Mark Smith and Martin Plowman set to contest twin championships aboard the team’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. At the heart of the programme is a full campaign in the British GT Championship, with the pair set to significantly increase both their testing and race mileage with a secondary entry into the GT Cup Championship.  Paddock’s distinctive black and pink McLaren GT3 made significant progress toward the front of the British GT field last year, and for this season a restructuring of the team’s technical crew looks set to continue that upward trajectory. The operation of the McLaren will be now overseen by Toby Phillips, who brings with him a long history of success operating GT3 cars at a world-class level. Phillips has previously worked on factory programmes with both Lamborghini and Bentley and has achieved multiple successes in championships such as the GT World Challenge Europe and European Le Mans Series. Paddock has also relocated to a new technical facility, marking yet another sizeable investment in the team’s infrastructure. With a new-look technical crew, Paddock will aim to make the most of every lap across the course of this year, with Smith also committing to a GT Cup programme. GT Cup’s calendar shares the majority of the same circuits as British GT. GT Cup events often take place during the build-up to British GT ones, offering the team the chance to both compete for GT Cup honours, but also use those weekends to gain mileage, experience and setup data ahead of British championship rounds. California driver Smith has previously commuted across from the States ahead of each British GT event, limiting testing opportunities so the crew was often learning as it raced. This year that momentum will shift, with Smith spending increased time in the UK in order to focus further on his race preparation during what will be his third full British GT campaign. Pro driver and Paddock Motorsport founder Plowman first made his British GT debut back in 2017, winning the GT4 Pro-Am Championship title two years later. After founding Paddock in 2021, he has successfully grown the team into a major presence in the pitlane, last year fielding three cars in British GT. Plowman has worked alongside Smith since his debut in the series during the 2022 season finale, and across the last two campaigns the pair have shown great potential, regularly producing race pace capable of fighting within the top five. Despite a difficult start to last season, Smith and Plowman ended last year with two top-five finishes in the GT3 Pro-Am class across the events at Donington Park and Brands Hatch, signalling how far they had come across the year. Now, with significantly increased mileage and the backing of a refreshed technical crew, hopes are high the team can push on toward the podium places in 2025.

Paddock Motorsport is set to take its first steps into full-time European competition next year, with a two-car entry planned for the McLaren Trophy Europe in 2025. The Tamworth-based team has grown rapidly since its foundation by experienced racer and businessman Martin Plowman back in 2021. The team has already become one of the largest operations within the British GT Championship, this season fielding three cars in the UK’s most prestigious GT racing championship. While Paddock plans to continue its British racing operations into 2025 and beyond, an expansion into Europe has been on the cards for some time, and the recently evolved McLaren Trophy Europe format gives the team the perfect chance to build upon its already extensive experience with the Artura GT4 race car. For 2025 and beyond, the Trophy will feature an upgraded version of the Artura – the McLaren Artura Trophy Evo – which will boast an impressive 585PS, revised aerodynamics, wider tyres and new push-to-pass technology capable of boosting power output temporarily to 620PS. The championship will also feature a new Pro class aimed at Silver-graded semi-professional drivers. McLaren has also announced a new McLaren Trophy Academy talent mentoring scheme for any Silver drivers aged 26 or under who enrol in the full championship. Offering both the chance to develop and learn new skills, the scheme puts successful candidates on the ladder toward becoming a fully-fledged factory driver, as well as offering excellent testing opportunities in GT4 and beyond. The championship will also continue to offer both Pro-Am and Am categories. The McLaren Trophy Europe features 10 races across five events, with the bulk of the fixtures taking place alongside the world-renowned Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, putting the McLaren Trophy on the biggest GT racing stage in the world. Legendary circuits such as Brands Hatch, Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring and Circuit Paul Ricard comprise the schedule. The trip to Belgium in late June is a particularly special one as the races form part of the support package for the world-famous CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, with McLaren Trophy competitors also getting to take part in the public parade into Spa town centre for a unique experience no other event can match. Paddock Motorsport founder Martin Plowman says: “We’ve been keen to expand into European competition for a while now, and the McLaren Trophy Europe gives us a great opportunity to do just that. We’re one of the most experienced teams in the UK when it comes to the operation of the McLaren Artura GT4, and the upgrades for the Trophy Evo spec look very exciting. The McLaren Trophy as a whole is growing quickly with the additions of a Pro class for next year and the driver development aspects. We feel it will make the championship very attractive to young drivers seeking to develop a career in GT racing. The Trophy is also a great place for amateur drivers to learn, either by sharing with a Pro, a fellow amateur driver, or going it solo for maximum track time. “Next year promises to be an exciting one for us. We’re already in advanced talks about our British racing programmes, so for the team to get a foothold into European competition makes a lot of sense, especially when it gets Paddock Motorsport into an environment like Fanatec GT race weekends, which are truly something special.” Paddock Motorsport has already had enquiries about the availability of its twin McLaren Arturas, so interested drivers need to act fast to secure their seat for an unmissable 2025 season. A full winter testing programme is available. Contact Enquiries@paddock-motorsport.com

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.