SMITH & PLOWMAN CLAIM POINTS ACROSS AN ULTRA-DEMANDING BRITISH GT RACE AT SPA

Mark Smith & Martin Plowman emerged from what was perhaps one of the most demanding British GT Championship races ever with a solid haul of points, with Smith and 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. Smith got a superb getaway and claimed his line into Eau Rouge/Raidillon before pressing on to complete an impressive opening lap in seventh place. From there progress proved more difficult though, as the GT3 field began to pick its way through the hordes of GT4 traffic. With so many cars, airflow was limited, meaning Smith began to struggle with brake temperatures, reporting to the team his troubles in slowing the car down. With many of the most obvious passing moves at Spa happening on the brakes, Smith found himself hamstrung. Racing was soon neutralised by the first of three safety cars to clear GT4s or Alpines from gravel beds. The second of these covered the pit window, allowing Smith to box for Plowman and the car to rejoin in eighth. Plowman faced two safety car restarts across his stint, holding his own across both in a tight battle with the 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG of Ben Green in front and the charging Optimum McLaren driven by Ben Barnicoat behind. Racing resumed for the final time with a 25-minute sprint to the flag, with Plowman surviving being barged wide on the back straight to take the flag in eighth place after penalties were dished out across the field. Mark Smith said: “That’s perhaps the least fun I’ve had in a race car. It was just crazy with cars everywhere and so much overtaking to do, luck came into it massively. I got a good start and things seemed to be going well until I just couldn’t slow the car down enough with the brakes overheating so badly. At that point it was just hang on and bring it home, but to leave with the car in one piece and some more points is a really good result considering.” Martin Plowman added: “That was easily one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. Getting any space on track was so difficult and it felt like you were dealing with something every second you were out there. Mark did a great job to move us forward and manage the braking issue, and then I did all I could after being hit wide and losing a few spots, so to come away eighth is actually really positive. I’m proud of how the whole team performed across the weekend, and I’m already looking forward to Snetterton.”