Paddock reveals twin entries for maiden McLaren Trophy Europe campaign

April 2, 2025

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.

Thomas Holland says: “I am very much looking forward to the season ahead with Paddock Motorsport. I have known the Plowmans for a few years now, with it finally being time to make the move to the team official. I’m glad to have been welcomed into the family and am eager to see what we can achieve together! Having Nick as my team-mate should be great as he has a huge amount of experience from racing both touring cars and GT cars, so we should work well together. The McLaren Trophy is a great next step for myself in my career with all the opportunities McLaren have added to the championship, along with putting myself in a completely new environment with a new challenge and I can’t wait to dive back into racing later this year!”

Nick Halstead says: “Business commitments meant another season in touring cars wasn’t possible for this year, so this is a fantastic opportunity to try something new, but also go back to my roots in a way. I obviously got started in GT racing through GT4, racing first a Ginetta and then the old McLaren 570S, which I still have. I have yet to try the new Artura, but I imagine it will be a step forward from the old car and I’m really looking forward to getting back into racing something with grip! Touring cars are incredibly tricky to drive, and are very loose at the rear in general, so the McLaren should be a more comfortable car to race and I’m just looking forward to going out there and having some fun this year. Tom knows what he’s doing in these cars, so I’m looking forward to working with him, and with Paddock, which is a team I’ve known for a fair few years now.”

Tim Docker says: “I wanted a new challenge for this year and moving on to compete in Europe gives me exactly that. I’ve raced all of the UK circuits for years, whereas I’ve never competed at tracks like Monza, Paul Ricard and the Nürburgring, so it will be a fresh experience. I’ve had a few tests with the new Artura Trophy car and it’s a big step forward. It feels like sitting in a normal GT4 until you realise quite how much faster it is in a straight line and how much extra grip you get from the new aero and the larger wheels, you can brake so much later and get back on the power earlier – it’s a monster of a thing. I’m really looking forward to being back with Paddock. It’s a great team with a really good atmosphere and we’ve enjoyed multiple successes in series like GT Cup, so I’m hoping for more of the same this year. I also have my eye on the McLaren Papaya Cup [for eligible amateur drivers], which would be a wonderful thing to win.”

Paddock Motorsport founder Martin Plowman adds: “We’re delighted to unveil our twin entries into this year’s McLaren Trophy Europe. This is a new adventure for the team, and we’re really excited about what lies ahead. We have a great relationship with McLaren and extensive experience of operating the Artura GT4, so we have a good base of knowledge to translate into the Trophy Evo. Testing with the new car has gone well and we’ve already started unlocking some of the car’s secrets, but there is always a lot of learning to be done, especially with the new European tracks we’ll get to visit.
 
“In Thomas and Nick we have two highly experienced GT racers who will no doubt hit the ground running and be going for the Pro-Am title. Tim has a wealth of experience and will benefit from the extra track time of racing his car solo in the Am class. Between our two cars I believe we have every chance to fight for trophies from the start of the season.”
 
The McLaren Trophy Europe season gets underway on familiar soil at Brands Hatch before taking in Monza in Italy and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium where it will support the world-famous CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The Trophy cars will also be eligible to take part in the incredible parade through the public streets into Spa centre, an annual highlight of the world’s biggest GT racing event. The Nürburgring in Germany and Circuit Paul Ricard in France cap the 10-race schedule.

Magnussen and Davies secure McLaren Trophy Europe title for Paddock at Portimão

October 20, 2026
Paddock Motorsport celebrated a dramatic title victory in the finale of McLaren Trophy Europe at Portimão last weekend (17/18 October), as Luca Magnussen and Callum Davies dug deep to clinch the Pro class crown by half a point in the Algarve. The #23 McLaren Artura crew fought off unexpected challenges including thunderstorms and unlucky penalties across two thrilling races to leave the final weekend on top of the standings, with the eventual winning margin for the year coming down to just 0.6s in the final race. Another Paddock Motorsport driver, David Coelho (below, left), scooped the Papaya Cup award with a Pro-Am podium for himself and Matthew Higgins. The pair also did enough to claim second in the Pro-Am championship points.

Magnussen and Davies extend McLaren Trophy lead at Barcelona

October 6, 2026
Paddock Motorsport enjoyed another silverware-studded McLaren Trophy Europe outing last weekend, leaving Barcelona with a trio of trophies and an extended Pro Championship lead. A superb second and a fighting fifth across the two races was enough for Luca Magnussen and Callum Davies to extend their points lead in the Pro class with two races remaining. In Pro-Am, Kevin Rohrscheidt and Maxi Tarillion claimed third and second places, while David Coelho and Matthew Higgins stayed consistent right behind them, adding a pair of fourth place finishes that keeps the pair in third spot in the class championship. The weekend proved to be a challenging event overall, with persistent and heavy rain leading to a major delay in the timetable at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya and the loss of any preparatory track time on Sunday.

Pace, progress and Team of the Weekend for Paddock in British GT finale

September 28, 2026
Paddock Motorsport turned heads across the British GT season finale at Brands Hatch last weekend; fielding a Porsche 911 GT3 for the first time, producing a rapid GT4 performance and landing a Team of the Weekend award. The Paddock team went into the two-hour race in Kent with a very different look to usual, with Mark Smith swapping out the team’s regular McLaren GT3 for the all-black Porsche 911 GT3 R, which would compete alongside the proven GT4 McLaren combination of Revie Lake and Blake Angliss. Despite the obvious challenges of a major switch of GT3 machinery within a very short timescale, Paddock still excelled, with Smith and Martin Plowman producing a near-flawless run to the flag to bank both useful experience and a haul of points to finish the campaign on a high note.

Paddock ready to break new ground in Brands British GT finale

September 25, 2026
Paddock Motorsport will take on a fresh challenge in this weekend’s British GT finale at Brands Hatch, as Mark Smith returns the Porsche brand to the field for the first time in a year. Smith has facilitated the switch from the team’s usual McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to the 911 GT3 R, which Paddock’s engineering team has already worked wonders to prepare. Alongside technical staff from top German Porsche outfit Black Falcon, Paddock has essentially rebuilt the 911 from the ground up, with the new car making its debut in the hands of Smith during the recent GT Cup event at the Kent track. Once again stripped and prepared, Smith and Plowman will make their British GT debut in it this weekend. Obviously, the switch in machinery brings a host of new challenges, with Smith and Plowman realistic about their prospects in new surroundings for the final race of the year. Paddock will also handle the operation of the McLaren Artura GT4 shared by Revie Lake and Blake Angliss, which made headlines with a breakthrough victory last time out at Donington Park. Things will be made more difficult this time around with the pair having to serve the maximum pit stop compensation time following the result, but the pace the duo have shown since joining the Paddock team means hopes are high that they can still fight for some big points.

Paddock to run Porsche for British GT finale

September 18, 2026
Mark Smith will return the Porsche brand to the British GT3 field for the season finale at Brands Hatch, with Paddock Motorsport taking over the operation of a 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R. After almost four full British GT Championship seasons of competition with Paddock’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, Smith has opted to evaluate additional opportunities ahead of next season and has facilitated the switch to the Porsche. Despite the move, Paddock’s strong relationship with McLaren remains unaffected, with the team still planning to operate GT3, GT4 and McLaren Trophy Europe programmes with the Woking brand in 2027 and beyond. The 911 GT3 R will make its competitive debut with Smith and Martin Plowman at the wheel in the forthcoming GT Cup event at Brands Hatch this coming weekend, before the pair will contest the British GT finale with the 911 at the Kent venue over September 26/27. It means Paddock will return to full strength for the last race of the season, with the Porsche slotting in beside the race-winning McLaren Artura GT4 entry of Revie Lake and Blake Angliss. Having become regular top-five challengers with the McLaren across recent seasons – including scoring their breakthrough GT3 Pro-Am podium at Oulton Park this year – the switch to Porsche machinery for Smith and Plowman allows the team to evaluate additional GT3 programmes ahead of next season, alongside its plans to compete with McLaren in both British and European categories. Paddock has now taken delivery of the 911, which was the last Porsche to feature in British GT’s top class in 2025 when it was shared by Nick Jones and Sven Müller and run by Team Parker Racing. To aid the technical switch for the two events, Paddock’s engineering team will be bolstered by selected staff from leading German team Black Falcon, which has extensive experience of competing with the Porsche 911 GT3 in events such as the Nürburgring 24 Hours and German GT Cup. The two teams worked together during a recent test at the Nürburgring to get an initial feel for the project and the Black Falcon staff will be embedded within Paddock’s HQ for the duration of the two race events. The Porsche 911 GT3 R features a 4.2-litre flat-six Boxer engine capable of producing around 565bhp (dependent on Balance of Performance), a six-speed sequential transmission and weighs 1250kg.

Breakthrough GT4 glory for Paddock after dominant Donington display

September 7, 2026
Paddock Motorsport produced a flawless performance at Donington Park last weekend, with Revie Lake and Blake Angliss flying to both a breakthrough win for themselves and a maiden overall British GT4 success for the team. The #84 McLaren Artura proved unbeatable across mixed conditions in the Midlands, with Angliss and Lake each putting in a star turn to lead the two-hour British GT race from lights to flag, eventually securing the sort of crushing win their pace of late has deserved. After disappointments from promising positions at both Spa-Francorchamps and Snetterton, there would be no misfortune this time as the Paddock McLaren started and ended the weekend strong. After going fastest of all in opening practice, Lake and Angliss originally qualified third on the grid, but were promoted to pole after the two Ginettas ahead were excluded for a technical infringement. Even then success was far from guaranteed, with heavy rain before the race meaning the majority of the field lined up on wet tyres, but knowing the returning sun would quickly dry the track.

Full focus on the 4: Paddock sets sights on GT4 honours at Donington

September 4, 2026
Paddock Motorsport will set its full focus on fighting for GT4 honours at this weekend’s British GT Championship event at Donington Park. With the team’s McLaren GT3 entry skipping the penultimate race of the season, Paddock will throw its full weight behind the Artura GT4 shared by Revie Lake and Blake Angliss as the team continues to hunt success regardless. Lake and Angliss have been something of a form pairing since joining the Paddock team from the mid-season visit to Spa-Francorchamps, even if luck has so far not been on their side. Even though Paddock took over the operation of the ex-Mahiki Racing Artura only days before Spa, Lake and Angliss qualified the car on the front row of a giant GT4 grid which combined the British GT cars with those of the French GT and Alpine Cup series. After that Lake grabbed the race lead and looked set to challenge for the win before a gearbox glitch struck. Last time out at Snetterton, the pair again showed their speed with Lake placing the Artura third on the grid for Race 1, only to have his race ended before the end of the first sector after being harpooned by a Ginetta heading into Turn 2. Similar misfortune befell Angliss in Race 2, as an early puncture meant an additional pit stop and cost the crew a lap. The team will be hoping that their third event together proves the charm this weekend, with the Artura fully refreshed and ready to go again, this time with the hope that its undoubted qualifying pace can translate into a strong result for Lake and Angliss.

Podium pace goes unrewarded for Paddock amid Snetterton setbacks

August 17, 2026
Paddock Motorsport endured a frustratingly fruitless weekend at Snetterton, despite the team producing arguably its strongest overall British GT Championship performance to date. Both Paddock’s McLaren GT3 and Artura GT4 crews showed performance that on any other weekend would have carried them to the podium. However, through no fault of their own, both cars suffered setbacks that meant the team received no reward for its hard work. Mark Smith and Martin Plowman were fighting for what would have been their breakthrough overall British GT3 podium in Sunday’s opening race, with Smith having just taken third spot overall on track when the #9 McLaren was taken out, clattering the barriers and leaving the result in ruins. Even though the team worked wonders to repair the resulting steering, suspension, bodywork and toe-link damage – plus fully reset the car’s geometry – in time for Plowman to take the start of Race 2, a gearbox failure directly traced back to the earlier damage prevented them from even salvaging some points from the event. The bad luck wasn’t restricted to the GT3 side of the garage either, with Revie Lake and Blake Angliss twice losing a shot at a strong result to freak issues. Lake had qualified the #84 Artura third for Sunday’s opener and looked set to challenge for a trophy, but the car’s race was ended after just two corners when Lake was harpooned by and out-of-control Ginetta heading into Wilson hairpin. Again, the team did well to repair the damage, allowing Angliss to start from ninth in the finale, but his charge was halted by an early puncture that cost an additional pit stop to repair. The sole silver lining was a fourth place in GT4 Silver, but it was a tale of what could have been.

Snetterton sprints set to kick-start second half of British GT season

August 14, 2026
Paddock Motorsport will resume its charge for British GT Championship silverware at Snetterton this weekend, with the return of the series’ sprint format giving double the chance to impress.  After a two-month break since the last event at Spa-Francorchamps, Mark Smith and Martin Plowman will reunite aboard the #9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, while Paddock will also continue the operation of the ex-Mahiki Racing McLaren Artura GT4 shared by Revie Lake and Blake Angliss. The return to action in Norfolk marks the second and final sprint event of the season, where the usual standalone race is replaced by two flat-out 60-minute sprints. Traditionally, these have been the races that Smith and Plowman have excelled in, with the pair scoring their strongest British GT result yet in the last sprint round at Oulton Park, finishing fourth overall and securing a place on the GT3 Pro-Am podium for the first time. Unlike the longer solo races, each driver gets a chance to qualify for, and finish, one of the sprints. Smith will qualify the GT3 for Race 1 and take the wheel for the start, before Plowman sets the grid slot for Race 2 before handing to Smith for the run to the flag. With minimal strategy involved, sheer speed is first and foremost, with Paddock’s McLaren faring well in the timesheets so far this year. With its prime race engine restored ahead of the last round at Spa, the car’s pace was masked by the sheer traffic of the 55-car combined grid as British GT mixed with the French GT Championship and Alpine Cup. The pair banked solid points for eighth place overall in what became a race of survival – maintaining fifth in the GT3 Pro-Am points as a result. With a more manageable 24 cars expected around Snetterton’s 300 Circuit this weekend there will be plenty of extra space to attack. The three-mile Norfolk venue is second only to Spa in terms of the longest lap of the British GT season, and it’s a track Smith in particular has excelled at. The American driver celebrated three outright wins from four GT Cup races there last season, while he and Plowman also scored an impressive fifth place during last season’s British GT meeting. Hopes are high the duo can continue to build on that sort of form this weekend. Likewise, Lake and Angliss have also shown great promise since switching to run under the Paddock banner. Despite their move coming just before the last round in Belgium, the pair qualified on the front row in GT4 and were leading the race before a gearbox gremlin denied them. With the technical team enjoying additional time to service and re-prepare the Artura, the duo should be ones to watch in the GT4 hunt.

Podiums aplenty for Paddock in McLaren Trophy Europe scorcher at Misano

July 22, 2026
Paddock Motorsport added yet more silverware to its ever-growing McLaren Trophy Europe collection after another stellar performance at Misano last weekend, with Mark Smith scoring the team’s first class victory of the season while Luca Magnussen and Callum Davies continued to prove their Pro class title credentials. Away from his British GT duties with the team, American driver Smith made an instant impact on his Trophy debut in the third of Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren Arturas in Italy, grabbing an Am class triumph in the opening race. That contributed to a total of five podium finishes out of a possible six across the weekend for the team. One of those came in the Pro class, where Magnussen and Davies battled to their fourth outright podium of the season, a result that keeps the duo out front in the championship points. After impressive results at both Monza and Spa-Francorchamps, the squad travelled back to Italy for two races held in intense summer heat at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Magnussen and Davies were reunited in the #23 Pro class Artura alongside Matthew Higgins and David Coelho in the #50 Pro-Am car and Smith’s Am entry.