Paddock Motorsport showed the sort of potential that breeds podium finishes during British GT’s showcase weekend at Silverstone, even though a place on the rostrum ultimately slipped away. Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren Artura GT4 shared by British GT rookies Blake Angliss and Alex Walker was a standout competitor in a packed GT4 entry, with both drivers fighting on the fringes of the class podium throughout before being denied by an unlucky penalty late on that would leave them fifth. The McLaren GT3 crew of Mark Smith and Martin Plowman put on a stunning show early in the race, with American driver Smith thriving in the rain and going toe-to-toe with some of the best GT drivers in the world in tricky conditions. Soon after though, the car would fall foul of bad luck on its strategy, leaving the pair fighting against the odds to make up time. Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley’s Mercedes-AMG GT4 impressed with its speed, but was hamstrung early on by first electrical troubles and then ABS failure. Regardless, the drivers nursed the problems to the flag to at least score their first points of the season. The first flashes of Paddock’s potential around Silverstone’s fast sweeps came in qualifying, when Plowman set the eighth fastest time of the hulking GT3 grid, out-pacing drivers such as BMW factory ace Raffaele Marciello, long-term Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam and reigning British GT champion Dan Harper. With the grid set on the combined best times of each driver, he and Smith would line-up for Sunday’s race 14th on the grid, knowing they had the pace to move forward. The headline result from qualifying came from Angliss and Walker, who grabbed fourth overall in the GT4 order after a superb effort from both drivers. McDermott and Cowley’s combined times put them ninth in the Pro-Am field. With the grid forming up under persistent rain, the opening stages were played out behind the safety car, which left the door wide open for teams to experiment with strategy. While many opted to stop at the first opportunity, Paddock decided to leave Smith out for a long first stint, in the hope of him achieving the majority of his minimum drive time of 80 minutes early, so Plowman could be installed for longer later in the race. Smith thrived on the pressure. As the amateur drivers around him stopped to hand to their pros, Smith soldiered on and soon had professional racers swarming over the rear of the McLaren. Undeterred, Smith put up an epic defence, holding both Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maxi Goetz and Barwell Motorsport’s Ricky Collard behind for multiple laps, even running as high as second overall at one point. When Smith eventually did stop inside the second hour he handed to Plowman just as the tide of the race turned. Shortly after the stop, the race was neutralised, handing Paddock’s rivals the chance to gain chunks of time in the pits. Allied to that, Plowman was then caught behind the safety car for an entire lap, essentially losing a lap against those who enjoyed a faster stop under the yellows. From there on, it was an uphill battle, with Smith and Plowman ticking off the laps on their way to seventh in class on an outing that could have delivered more had it not been for misfortune. Angliss and Walker backed up their qualifying pace by going on the attack early. Angliss worked his way up to third in the early stages before settling into the fight inside the top five. His and Walker’s combined pace kept the car firmly in contention for a podium finish, and things looked even brighter after they got their final pit stop done under a full course yellow period in the last hour, however, the car was pinged for speeding under the same 80kph caution period shortly after, earning a drive through that left the crew fifth. Still, it was solid points and both drivers did themselves proud with their performance. Lastly, the race simply didn’t go to plan for McDermott and Cowley, who were never able to show their true colours amid the technical issues with the Mercedes-AMG. They lost time at their first stop having to power cycle the car to cure an electrical glitch, then midway through the race the ABS failed. They stopped the car to power cycle it a second time to cure the issue, but were left to nurse the issue to the flag in the name of scoring at least some points. 

Paddock Motorsport is aiming for success across the board as the British GT Championship heads into its seasonal showpiece, the Silverstone 500, this weekend. After a challenging opening round of the year at Oulton Park over Easter – where the team’s number was whittled down to its twin McLarens after the new Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley suffered a terminal engine issue – the squad is now back up to a full complement of cars, competing across three of the championship’s four classes. This weekend’s three-hour Silverstone 500 represents not just British GT’s showpiece race, but also the biggest GT racing event in Britain. Boasting a huge 43-car field, the longer race places much greater demands on both driver endurance and strategy, especially with no set pitstop window. Each car must perform three pit stops across the course of the race, meaning two stints per driver, and each must not drive for more than 100 minutes in total, leaving the teams to work out the best strategy to get to the flag first. While Oulton was far from easy, the twin sprint races gave Paddock a chance to showcase its potential for the year ahead, with both the GT3 McLaren of Mark Smith and Martin Plowman showing impressive pace, and the Artura GT4 of Alex Walker and Blake Angliss taking home two strong finishes. The GT3 crew’s weekend was highlighted by a superb qualifying performance putting the #9 car sixth overall, and Smith and Plowman securing a best finish of eighth in the headline GT3 Pro-Am class in race two, despite the two outings in Cheshire being heavily disrupted by yellow flags. Likewise, Angliss and Walker impressed on their championship debuts, taking home a pair of fifth-place finishes in the GT4 Silver category to kick-start their season with some solid points. Since Oulton, the GT4 Pro-Am Mercedes-AMG has undergone significant work. After the car suffered a major propshaft failure, the technical team worked through Easter Sunday to fit a replacement, only for a larger engine issue to prevent the car from running on race day. With the machine now fully refreshed, McDermott and Cowley are hoping to get their season off to a flying, if delayed, start. McDermott has fond memories of the Silverstone 500, having won the GT4 Pro-Am class and finished second overall last season. 

Paddock Motorsport left the opening round of the British GT Championship with plenty of positives, despite the weekend throwing more than a few challenges at the team. The GT3 crew of Mark Smith and Martin Plowman showed flashes of great pace, and finished what turned out to be a truncated opening race with a well-deserved top-10 finish, while rookie pairing Blake Angliss and Alex Walker bagged a strong pair of fifth place finishes to start their campaign with solid points. Those results did come against a backdrop of disappointment though, with the new Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Ed McDermott and Matt Cowley having to be withdrawn after a major technical failure early on Saturday. The car shattered its propshaft during practice, and although a spare was sourced and fitted on Sunday, further engine issues prevented the car from running. Down to the twin McLarens for race one, both cars put in a fighting display in extremely tricky conditions that made the first race almost more about survival than progress. The grid formed up under persistent rain, with all cars on wet-weather Pirellis and the prospect of thick spray reducing visibility to a few metres at best. Smith was disappointed in his first qualifying of the year, starting the GT3 Evo from 13th in the monster field after not quite hooking up an ideal lap. Angliss climbed aboard the Artura GT4 to make his British GT debut, starting from sixth in class. The race began behind the safety car in the worst of the conditions, before releasing the cars in anger a few minutes later. Smith immediately looked to move forward, picking up a place when the J&S Racing Audi swapped ends through turn one. Smith then began to pressure the RAM Racing BMW M4, but was caught out when the M4 braked early into Hislops, forcing Smith to jump on the brakes and narrowly avoid the rear of the BMW as he skated down the escape road. With grass in the radiators from the incident, rising temperatures prevented Smith from making progress, as did a lengthy full course yellow period called to recover a stranded GT4 car. He eventually handed across to Plowman, but with the tyres lacking bite and racing action limited over the closing laps, a safe 12th was the limit for the pair. Angliss and Walker weren’t shy in getting involved, with Angliss getting stuck in despite the conditions and dicing with multiple cars across his stint. He flew past the CWS Ginetta at the start and then climbed all over the rear of the Race Lab McLaren before having his own progress stunted by the FCY. He pitted for Walker, who rejoined equally determined to push further up the order. Walker despatched the rival Artura with a fine move and then chased down the RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG, shadowing it across the line to secure a fine fifth place. Race two would provide a different challenge, and also a highly frustrating finish. Plowman excelled in his qualifying segment, putting the #9 McLaren GT3 Evo a fine sixth on the grid. However, this early promise was tempered when Plowman was rudely elbowed wide through the first turn, dropping a wheel of the sodden grass and losing momentum. That meant he was swamped down to 12th on the first lap, and had all the hard work to do over again. But in truth he never got the chance, as racing was neutralised first thanks to a multi-car tangle in the GT4 pack, and then again for virtually the entire second half of the race following barrier damage inflicted by a wayward Aston Martin GT3 and then a rival McLaren breaking down on track. It meant neither Plowman nor Smith really got a chance to get into the fight their qualifying pace had deserved, and eighth in class was all they could do. It was a similar story for the GT4 crew, with Walker qualifying the Artura GT4 fifth in class, he then made a solid start to the race, only to be caught behind the melee sparked when a Century Motorsport BMW M4 was tipped around at turn one, scattering the pack and damaging a handful of cars. Walker did brilliantly to avoid damage, slamming on the brakes to avoid the accident ahead. However, the lost ground would take a lot to recover. Walker then engaged in a great fight with Gordie Mutch’s Lotus, with Mutch diving past into Hislops only for Walker to snatch the place back through Cascades a lap later. He was fifth in class when he handed to Angliss, who rejoined for what would become a frustrating finish where everybody was unable to make progress. Still, two top-fives on their British GT debut was a superbly promising return for the young pairing.