Best points finishes to date for Smith & Plowman

Mark Smith and Martin Plowman’s GT3 McLaren may have been roughed up more than once, but the pair fought on to finish an eventual eighth overall, and an impressive fifth in the GT3 Pro-Am class, securing their best points haul of the year.   After two practice sessions in mixed conditions, qualifying took place on a largely dry track, with Smith and Plowman placing the GT3 12th on the grid on combined times.  At the start Smith was forced to take avoiding action into turn one as the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes GT3 that had started on the front row was tipped into a spin and came to rest broadside across Smith’s bonnet. The quick-thinking American took to the gravel and, while he avoided damage, the lost time dropped the car to the tail of the field.Undeterred, Smith put on a great charge, scything through the GT4 traffic ahead to recatch the GT3 field. He then engaged in a tight fight with the J&S Motorsport Audi and Century Motorsport BMW, eventually working his way up to eighth and suddenly the car was back in with a chance. That was until Smith was punted into a spin by the chasing Garage 59 McLaren, the Paddock car coming to a rest right in the middle of the track. Mercifully everybody missed Smith, who did well to restart the machine and get out of trouble. He pitted for Plowman from tenth, and a well-timed stop from the Paddock crew got the car back out in ninth.The lost time would prove impossible to claw back, but Plowman pressed on and picked up a further place when the Team Abba Mercedes-AMG crashed out late on. 

Mark Smith said: “Even though the result is actually pretty good, the race was so tough. The start was crazy and I had the choice of the gravel or going the other side of the spinning Mercedes and likely being hit by another car. The gravel was the safest option, but it cost a lot of time and once again I found myself having to fight through from the back early on. My stint from there went really well and we had great pace in the car… I was gaining spots back and then bang… I got hit from behind by the Garage 59 car, but the driver did apologise to me after, which I really appreciated. It’s been a tough weekend, but we could’ve easily been top five without the problems.”  

The season finale of the British GT Championship takes place at Brands Hatch across the weekend of September 28-29.