2025 ENTRY: Paddock strengthens tech team ahead of 2025 GT3 assault

2025 ENTRY: Paddock strengthens tech team ahead of 2025 GT3 assault

Paddock Motorsport has revealed an unchanged GT3 combination for the upcoming British GT Championship season.

Mark Smith and team owner Martin Plowman return for a third full season together aboard their distinctive black and pink McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. But there’s a renewed purpose at the family-run outfit following restructuring behind the scenes.

The technical side is 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 powered by AWS and European Le Mans Series. 

Paddock has also relocated to a new technical facility, marking yet another sizeable investment in the team’s infrastructure.

And there are developments on track where Paddock’s GT3 programme will be more visible in 2025 thanks to a parallel GT Cup campaign.

That increased commitment is driven by California native Smith who previously commuted from the States ahead of each British GT event, limiting testing opportunities. 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.

“I’m really excited for this season, to be back with Paddock Motorsport and Martin, and for a number of reasons,” he said. “With an average finishing position of 11th in 2023, and 12th in 2024, you couldn’t be blamed for wondering why I’d want to come back for more. But the short answer is I don’t believe those results. Our race pace last year was consistently inside the top five, yet for a litany of reasons – many down to sheer bad luck ­– we struggled to finish in those places.
 
“My biggest lesson during the last two years is that your race pace alone isn’t enough, and that over time you make your own luck. For example, it might look like bad luck that at the beginning of races last year I consistently ended up with incidents or damage from having to avoid cars wrecking in front of me, but actually that’s just a fact of starting mid-pack. I need to qualify better to eliminate that bad luck.
 
“There's only one way I know how to improve and that's with dedication and effort. This year I call my ‘go big or go home’ year. We're adding testing, bringing on additional engineering talent, as well as adding the GT Cup to our schedule. This additional seat time, with a focused effort on improving my qualifying performance, I believe will be crucial for improving our results. Paddock has also made significant investment in the team, dramatically improving its facilities and leaving no stone unturned with respect to car performance. I'm confident that 2025 will be a breakout year for us.”
British GT’s media day takes place at Silverstone on March 21. Fans can attend for free but must reserve their ticket in advance at silverstone.co.uk/events/british-gt-championship.

The seven-event, nine-race season itself begins three weeks later at Donington Park (April 5/6).