Smith Shines with Dominant Performance at Brands Hatch GT Cup Weekend

Following a stunning maiden GT Cup victory in last month’s 100-minute endurance race at Donington Park, Mark Smith carried his momentum into the latest round at Brands Hatch, delivering a commanding performance in the Paddock Motorsport McLaren 720S Evo GT3.

Over the course of the weekend, which featured a Sprint Race and a Pit Stop Race on both Saturday and Sunday, Smith secured an impressive four pole positions, three wins, and a podium finish—further cementing his presence in the championship.

Smith kicked off Saturday with a dominant lights-to-flag win in the Sprint Race, crossing the line nine seconds clear of his nearest rival. Confidence was high heading into the 50-minute Pit Stop Race later that day, but a brief off-track excursion at Sheene Curve saw him drop to third, where he ultimately finished.

Undeterred, Smith returned on Sunday determined to make up for it. In the Pit Stop Race, he built nearly a 10-second lead before a rear puncture forced an early pit stop. Thanks to a rapid turnaround by the Paddock Motorsport crew, he rejoined just five seconds adrift of the leader. Closing the gap with relentless pace, Smith reclaimed the lead before Clearways with just over 10 minutes remaining and powered to victory.

In the weekend’s final Sprint Race, Smith took the lead into Paddock Hill Bend and never looked back, pulling clear to secure his third win at Brands Hatch and rounding off a spectacular weekend of racing.

Mark Smith

“We've really got the car dialled in this weekend. Usually, we're trying to figure out something, but the stability of the car this week has been spectacular - we could just immediately start attacking the track and dropping time, not trying to figure anything out with the car. The team has made great strides there. I seem to get right out the box and get moving, but the cars behind slowly build their pace. We changed tyres in the Pitstop race because we got a flat! Right before turn four the warning came on and they called me in so I was watching the pressure drop on the left rear. The back half is all high-speed rights so I couldn't load that tyre. By the time I got to the pits it was 0.15 bar and it was basically loose on the rim!"

Mark will be racing at Oulton Park next weekend in the British GT Championship back alongside his British GT partner Martin Plowman.