Points and progress for Paddock during dramatic British GT comeback at Brands Hatch

September 11, 2023

Both of Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren crews produced impressive recovery drives during the latest round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship at Brands Hatch, with both the GT3 and GT4 teams scoring a big haul of points.
 
Mark Smith and Martin Plowman continued their upward curve by scoring sixth overall on the road in the #11 720S GT3 Evo, despite the car being both hit with a grid drop and severely delayed during a turbulent race start. A post-race time penalty for contact with a GT4 car would put them back to seventh in class, but that still represented their season’s best result.
 
Kavi Jundu and Tom Rawlings endured an even more challenging weekend as losing track time in both Saturday practice sessions meant they essentially went into qualifying blind. Regardless, the pair fought hard to secure fourth in the GT4 Pro-Am order, equalling their best result of the campaign.
 
Saturday’s practice sessions were spent honing the GT3 to the 2.3-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, and also getting Smith up to speed. The Californian had never driven the track and Brands’ lack of a pre-event test made it a steep learning curve. Things were more difficult on the GT4 side, as Jundu was dumped into the gravel at Hawthorn after an ABS mixup, meaning the car had to be first recovered and then emptied of gravel. FP2 was even more unlucky when a stray piece of gravel interfered with the cooling system, meaning the car only completed a handful of laps.
 
Qualifying was also a mixed bag, with Smith and Plowman initially putting the GT3 ninth on the grid, before being dropped five places following a red flag infringement in practice. Jundu and Rawlings would start seventh in the GT4 Pro-Am order, with Rawlings getting his first laps during the timed session.
 

Paddock's Artura GT4 entering Paddock Hill Bend


But the race is where things would come good for both crews, as each managed to keep their cool despite scorching temperatures and more than a few incidents.
 
When the lights went out contact between the Mercedes-AMGs of John Ferguson and Ian Loggie caused chaos through turn one, as Loggie’s car ended up broadside in front of Smith as the pack headed through Paddock Hill Bend. Smith was forced to brake hard and swerve to avoid damage, which he did successfully, but a gearbox glitch caused the car to stick in fourth gear which reduced it to a crawl up the hill before Smith could clear it and get going again.
 
Now almost stone last, Smith faced a fight to get back into the mix, but the American driver put on a star performance to overtake the entirety of the GT4 field and then start to work his way through up the GT3 order. Smith’s determined recovery got him into an incredible seventh by the pit window when he dived in to hand to Plowman. Slick work from the Paddock crew got the car serviced and back out in fifth, just ahead of the Greystone GT Mercedes of Callum Macleod.
 
Plowman defended hard from Macleod, but eventually lost out when he was caught in a collision with a GT4 car through Clearways. The clash delayed Plowman and allowed the AMG through. It also helped Sandy Mitchell’s Barwell Lamborghini to close in and eventually work its way past. It looked like seventh would be the limit, until the Greystone GT car ran dry of fuel on the final lap, leaving Smith and Plowman sixth at the flag. Even with the post-race censure being a setback, there’s no arguing that Smith and Plowman now have the pace to be knocking on the door of the big points scores.
 
In GT4, Jundu did well to pick his way through the chaos at the start and move the Artura up to fifth in class early on. After that he got involved in a tight fight in the pack, despite the rising temperatures and lack of track time proving a challenge. Increasing levels of oversteer made things hard work late into his stint and Jundu was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for straying beyond the track limits once too often.
 
Jundu brought the car in to hand to Rawlings and another swift stop helped Rawlings rejoin in fifth before improving to fourth by the finish, Rawlings pulling well clear of the title-chasing RACE LAB Artura in the process.



Smith put in a superb drive in the GT3 car after a dramatic start


Mark Smith said: “That was a wild race! It’s been a challenge just learning the circuit but it’s been so fun. For the race my plan at the start was to just keep things clean as I knew some people would hit trouble early on, but I didn’t expect to see the Mercedes sideways in front of me! I had to swerve and then the car bogged down and got stuck in gear and it took me a few seconds to clear it, by which time I was dead last. After that I just pushed like mad to make up as many places as I could, and I had a blast doing it. The result is still a good one and we moved forward a lot this weekend.”
 
Martin Plowman said: “I’m mostly pleased with how the weekend went. It’s a real shame about the penalty, but we still took home our best result of the season and Mark’s stint was just superb. Many drivers would have lost their heads after a start incident like that, but his pace was great and he pulled off a string of great overtakes to get us back into it. My stint was tough as I was defending hard from the Mercedes and Lamborghini for much of it until the collision. But we’ve certainly got a lot of positives to take away from this one.”
 
Kavi Jundu said: “It’s been a weekend of two halves, with an incredibly tough Saturday and then we turned it around and came away with some great points on Sunday. The heat today made things hard work, but the car felt great on new tyres and I could race hard, but it started to get away from me a bit later in the stint with quite a lot of oversteer on corner entry, which was probably just a combination of the temperature and our lack of running to tune the setup. But Tom got in and did a great job in the second half. We went into the race just looking to have fun and move forward and we certainly did that.”
 
Tom Rawlings added: “I’ve never driven in a race as hot as that! Every time I got onto a straight I was putting my hand up to the window trying to get some cool air! But overall I think we can be pleased with fourth, especially given how difficult Saturday was. The car felt good for me and I could push to the flag. It does feel like we turned a bad weekend into a good one.”
 
The final round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship takes place at Donington Park on October 21/22.


The Artura GT4 leads a pack of cars at Brands Hatch

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.

5, 3, 2, 1... Paddock secures stunning McLaren Trophy haul at Spa

June 29, 2026
Paddock Motorsport beat the heat to claim five podium finishes across its three cars in two scorching McLaren Trophy Europe races at Spa-Francorchamps, earning one Team of the Weekend award in the process. The stunning haul of a total 11 pieces of silverware was split across the trio of Luca Magnussen and Callum Davies’ Pro class Artura Trophy Evo and the Pro-Am entries shared by David Coelho/Matthew Higgins and Maximilian Tarillion/Kevin Rohrscheidt. All three Paddock crews appeared on the podium at least once, with Magnussen and Davies claiming a pair of third places – the second taken after a stunning charge from the back of the grid – Tarillion and Rohrscheidt taking a third and second, and Coelho and Higgins scoring their breakthrough podium with second place in Race 1.

Paddock claims points across an ultra-demanding British GT race at Spa

June 24, 2026
Paddock Motorsport emerged from what was perhaps the most demanding British GT Championship race ever with a solid haul of points, with Mark Smith and Martin Plowman securing an eighth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. With the British GT field combined with cars from the French GT Championship and European Alpine Cup, a 55-car ‘mega grid’ would compete across two hours in the Ardennes, however the addition of so many GT4 and production-spec machines made the weekend a minefield of traffic of the GT3 runners. In many ways, ideal car setup mattered less here than anywhere, with traffic management and sheer fortune being more valuable in generating laptime. Smith and Plowman emerged second-fastest overall during second practice, but the #9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo would have to serve a grid drop regardless following an incident at Oulton Park. That meant Smith took the wheel from 11th for the start on Sunday afternoon. The baking heat of Spa added an extra dimension, making the race a huge challenge both inside the car and out.

Paddock poised for a boost as British GT heads to Spa

June 19, 2026
Paddock Motorsport continues its British GT Championship campaign at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, with the team keen to push on from its breakthrough podium finish last time out. Mark Smith and Martin Plowman head to the third round of the season full of confidence after securing their first British GT3 podium finish as a driver pairing in the last outing at Oulton Park, a result that has been long in the making and elevates them to fourth place in the GT3 Pro-Am standings. That result was also taken against the backdrop of the team having to run its spare engine in the #9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, with Oulton’s tight and twisty nature helping to mask any power deficit. However, for Spa Paddock’s prime unit has been freshly rebuilt, and will undoubtedly be a key addition given the power-hungry nature of the Belgian Grand Prix track. Spa represents the longest lap of the year, at 4.3miles, with GT3s nudging 165mph along the Kemmel Straight after the near-flat-out run up Eau Rouge/Raidillon, which pushes cars and drivers to their limits.  This event also features a different sort of challenge with the British GT grid combined with that of the French GT Championship and Alpine Cup to create a monster 60-car field. As French GT only caters for GT4-spec machinery, the GT3 field will effectively have three times the amount of traffic than usual to navigate across the two-hour race. This will place the emphasis on clean and consistent racing, something which Paddock should excel at given Smith and Plowman have scored class points in each of the last nine British GT races, a run stretching back to Oulton Park last year.

Paddock pockets podiums in superb McLaren Trophy Europe opener

June 1, 2026
Paddock Motorsport began its 2026 McLaren Trophy Europe campaign in electric fashion with two podium finishes at Monza last weekend, where Callum Davies and Luca Magnussen clinched a superb second place overall on their series debut. The latter’s achievement came against the odds in the first of two intense races at the Italian circuit, as a fast-starting Davies climbed from seventh to third early on, before sportscar rookie Magnussen further improved to launch Paddock’s assault in style. Steven Lake and Maximilian Tarillion added a Pro-Am trophy to the collection, with third in class the following day, while David Coelho and Matthew Higgins banked solid points in their own Pro-Am entry. The squad travelled to the famous Temple of Speed with its biggest ever McLaren Trophy entry, the trio led by the #23 pairing of Magnussen and Davies in the Pro class, alongside two Pro-Am Arturas for the respective combinations of Lake/Tarillion and Higgins/Coelho.