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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
About Us
Paddock Motorsport is more than just a race team. We are an events business; offering world-class VIP Hospitality at major sporting events and really cool corporate experiences under the banner of Paddock Prestige Events.
Paddock Motorsport's Driver Academy headed up by Martin Plowman focuses on career management, intense driver coaching, fitness, nutrition and marketing to develop the next generation of Amateur and Professional racing drivers.
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+44 (0) 7457 404739
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Unit 22, Two Gates Trading Estate,Watling Street, Tamworth, B77 5AE
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