Superhuman effort sees injured Plato fight to the end

Having been seriously burnt in a filming accident earlier in the weekend, Jason Plato was described as ‘superhuman’ by his SEAT Sport UK team boss Scott Dennis (SEAT UK Motorsport Manager) after ignoring the pain and driving his heart out in a dramatic finale at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.

With a nurse to dress the wounds to his hands, face and neck, Jason finished 2nd in the first two races to lead the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship by one point entering the final race of the season. After 29 closely fought battles, it was a straight fight between Jason and Fabrizio Giovanardi and the driver who finished ahead would be champion.

Jason finished in 4th position while Giovanardi was 2nd – giving the Italian the Drivers’ title by just three points. Jason is the only driver to score points in all 30 BTCC races this season and finishes 2nd for the second year in succession. The ultimate 40th birthday present wasn’t to be, but the bravery in which he raced this weekend was inspirational.

SEAT Sport UK won the Teams’ title on the penultimate round, while SEAT was still able to win the Manufacturers’ title for the second year running with the final 16 lap race remaining. After a hard fought battle it wasn’t to be, as last year’s champions finished 2nd in 2007, just 14 points behind Vauxhall.

Darren Turner’s lap times at Thruxton were on par with those of the race winners, yet his results in the first two races didn’t do him justice. He had worked his way up to 5th in Race 1 before a front left puncture forced a pit stop. Having started Race 2 in 18th (his Race 1 finishing position), he worked his way up to 9th in the first five laps before getting stuck behind Tom Onslow-Cole (BMW 320si). He then pushed hard in the final race to finish 6th.

Tom Coronel enjoyed an amazing BTCC debut – scoring points in all three races and starting the third and final race from pole. After just one race meeting, the 2006 World Independent Touring Car Champion finished 17th in the BTCC out of 33 registered drivers!