Mark Smith and Martin Plowman Team Up with Paddock

Team owner Martin Plowman has found a new team mate to replace Kelvin Fletcher at Paddock Motorsport for 2023. Mark Smith returns to the car after an impressive debut alongside Plowman at the Donington Decider last year. The team are due to announce a second GT3 entry soon.

Smith claimed the runner up spot behind Aiden Kenny in the Cayman class of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama in 2022 before claiming the 4th fastest time in GT3 qualifying at Donington Park with Paddock. The result in the East Midlands was even more impressive when you consider it was the first time Smith drove any GT3 car competitively.

“Joining Paddock Motorsport and Martin Plowman to campaign their McLaren 720S GT3 in the British GT Pro-Am class is an incredible opportunity to both continue developing as a driver and to compete with a very strong group of racers in some amazing machinery,” he said. 

“Martin is an amazing co-driver, and I am very excited to work with him. As an amateur driver, you want to find a Pro who not only has pace, but who makes that pace rub off on you. Martin’s list of wins and championships demonstrates his speed, but as I learned at Donington last year, he also makes his Am faster. I’m confident that Paddock’s engineers and mechanics will give us a great car this year and that we will have the pieces in place for a run at the podium.”

“I’m really excited about British GT this year, and to be working with Mark,” Plowman added in conversation with BritishGT.com. “He enjoyed a really impressive British GT debut with us at the end of last season, and the way he adapted so quickly to both the circuit and a GT3 car shows we have real potential for this season. 

“Obviously, there will be a learning curve as the championship is shaping up to be highly competitive with a big grid and a lot of quality drivers, but we have a full testing programme planned to get Mark as much experience as possible of both the car and the British circuits. I have no doubt that Mark will be one of the amateur drivers to watch this year, and I hope we’ll make a very competitive pairing.”

Paddock Motorsport’s new livery and the second car’s driver line up are due to be revealed at the Intelligent Money British GT Championship media day at Donington Park next month.