The results came against a backdrop of searing heat, with temperatures at the Ardennes track nudging above 40 degrees at times as mainland Europe baked in a heatwave. The weather took its toll on the cars, making it a constant battle against fuel depravation as the tanks almost literally boiled at points, with the drivers also having to contest with the physicality of draining cockpit temperatures.
 
The fuel issues first presented themselves across Thursday, forcing the Paddock technical team to put in an all-nighter to prepare the cars’ tanks and fuel feed systems for the continued hot weather. This Herculean effort was rewarded almost immediately on Friday with the first haul of trophies.
 
Magnussen could only qualify 12th with the restrictions, but with the #23 refreshed for the race things went more to plan. The Danish ace took the start and immediately began to climb the order, working his way into the top 10 before a safety car prevented further progress after a crash at Raidillon. That actually helped matters, tightening the pack just before the pit window, with Magnussen diving in to hand to Davies, who filtered back out into fifth after some fine work from the Paddock pit crew.
 
A second safety car reduced the race to an eight-minute sprint, and Davies took his chances, pulling a superb pass on Aston Millar around the outside into Les Combes for fourth before then being bumped up to a podium place due to a time penalty for the #99 Target Racing car right ahead.
 
Rohrscheidt and Coelho did their best to follow Davies’ example, and both ended up on the Pro-Am podium in a terrific team display. Rohrscheidt held third place in class for much of the race, surviving a scary moment when the #90 Raptor Engineering car slid into his side during a battle at Les Combes. He handed to Tarillion still in a provisional podium place, with Coelho showing huge improvements to his pace across the event to box from fifth to hand his car to Higgins.
 
That set up a great charge from Higgins across the final half, with the Briton surging up the order to take the flag in third, with Tarillion right behind. However, a post-race penalty for the #12 Raptor Engineering car elevated Higgins and Coelho to second, and Tarillion/Rohrscheidt to third.
 
Race 2 brought even more success on Saturday morning, with Paddock’s crews again putting on a star showing in front of a huge crowd gathered ahead of the start of the 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
 
A recurrence of the fuel issue restricted Davies to the back of the grid, however starting 23rd merely made what was to come that much more spectacular. Davies got a flying start to immediately scythe his way up to 14th before his progress was temporarily halted after being elbowed wide by Hugo Bac. Undeterred, Davies recovered to make his way to 13th by the pit window when he swapped with Magnussen.
 
A safety car again reduced the race to a sprint over the closing minutes, with Magnussen initially 12th in the queue. However, a masterclass of overtaking followed, as Magnussen flew past cars ahead and with just two minutes left he was sixth, but with three of the top cars in the race being given time penalties, that was enough to complete a dream drive to the podium.
 
It was a similar story for Tarillion and Rohrscheidt, who beat a penalty of their own to secure second. Tarillion impressed with some mighty pace to run third overall across the first half before handing to Rohrscheidt. Even though the car picked up five extra seconds on its race time for track limits infringements, Rohrscheidt’s pace was more than enough to secure the spot anyway.
 
Higgins put on a great show in a three-car fight over fifth place, repeatedly going door-to-door with his rivals into the chicane before his Artura picked up some floor damage that stripped the car of vital downforce. He pitted from seventh for Coelho, who briefly managed to push ahead of the rival Greystone GT car to hold a provisional podium place, only for a track limits penalty for the sliding McLaren to drop him back to fourth. Still, it represented a strong haul of points.
 
The McLaren Trophy Europe organisers recognised Paddock’s endeavour against the odds with the Team of the Weekend award, adding that final 11th piece of silverware to an already enviable collection.

Paddock Motorsport founder and team principal Martin Plowman said: “I am incredibly proud of how the entire team operated this weekend. This had to be one of the most challenging race weekends we’ve ever had, with the heat causing absolute chaos both on track and off it. Conditions were such hard work, and the fact the guys worked through the night on Thursday to have our three cars ready to go on Friday was just sensational – It felt like we’d already done our own Spa 24 Hours before Race 1 had even started!
 
“To have so many podium finishes, and across all three cars, is such a great reward for everybody’s hard work. It was important to keep things clean in the races and avoid the sort of penalties that held others back as much as we could, and it paid off hugely. Luca and Callum never let their heads drop and both showed incredible skill and judgment in overtaking, making up almost 30 places overall across the two races. Maxi and Kevin fully deserved their two podiums, with Kevin showing he’d lost none of his pace from last year and Maxi being a real star in Race 2 by holding an overall podium place across his stint.
 
“I’m also delighted for David and Matt. David made huge progress from the first session to the last on one of the most demanding tracks in world motorsport, and Matthew is a consummate Pro who was there coaching him throughout while also showing his own quality in the car. If we can keep up these sorts of results for the rest of the year, it could be some season!”
 
Paddock Motorsport is next in McLaren Trophy Europe action at Misano across July 17-19.