Plato celebrates 250th BTCC race on Turner's birthday

Jason Plato will start his 250th British Touring Car Championship race at Rockingham on the day that team-mate Darren Turner celebrates his 34th birthday. Sunday 13th April will therefore be a big day for both SEAT Sport UK drivers, and the icing on the (birthday) cake would be if either driver took the Holiday Inn-backed Leon TDI to its first BTCC victory.

Jason has made 249 starts in a BTCC career that began in 1997, and the 2001 Champion is also rapidly approaching another milestone, as he is just 53 points shy of 2,000 BTCC career points. The 38-times race winner has a good record at Rockingham, and last year finished 3rd , 5th and 1st in the three races there.

Darren only made his BTCC race debut in 2006, and will pass the 50-race mark at Rockingham. The former BRDC/McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award winner set the pace at Rockingham last year, recording fastest times in both free practice sessions and qualifying on pole. As the grid formed for the opening race, an electrical problem saw his SEAT Leon stall and, unable to restart the engine, it was pushed to one side. Darren then produced the drive of the day to come from 25th on the grid to finish 6th in race two, before scoring a well deserved podium in race three.

The new Leon TDI showed great reliability on its BTCC race debut at Brands Hatch, scoring two podium results on its first two races. The forthcoming rounds of the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship will pose new challenges for the SEAT Sport UK team, as it has no previous experience of running the diesel-engined car around the 12-turn circuit, which includes the only banked corner on the BTCC calendar. The drivers and engineers will once again have to work closely to find a competitive set-up and unlock the potential of the Leon TDI in both qualifying and race set-ups.

Jason Plato said: "We went reasonably well at Rockingham last year and because of the layout of the circuit and the extra time we've now had with the Leon TDI, I believe that we'll be more competitive there than we were last time out at Brands Hatch. In fact, I'm quite bullish about Rockingham, even thought we go there with a lot to learn about our new car.

"We've just about discovered the style to driving the Leon TDI and now we'll be able to change the set-up of the car to make that style work. The engineers have been working with the data gained at Brands Hatch to try and improve the car, particular its mid-corner grip. We had a lot of mid-corner understeer at Brands Hatch and we were very hard on the front tyres, so we have a lot of performance to gain in that area, especially over a race distance. If we can qualify well, I think we'll have a good race day at Rockingham."

Darren Turner: "It's very hard to say how we'll get on at Rockingham, and that's going to be the case at every new circuit we go to this year.

"The Leon TDI is so different to the petrol-engined Leon, we'll be starting each first free practice session with pretty much a blank piece of paper in terms of what set-up works the best. We've improved the top speed of the car, so the long fast section between the final corner and turn two should be good for us, but the twisty infield section isn't too dissimilar to Brands Hatch.

"Over the course of a lap we should be competitive at Rockingham, but I don't think we'll have an advantage or be at a disadvantage - which is the way it should be for the fans who want to see good, close racing."

Scott Dennis, SEAT UK Motorsport Manager explained: "We were very pleased with our performance at Brands Hatch, where the Leon TDI made a solid and reliable BTCC debut. The car showed a lot of potential, and we are working very hard with the data and feedback from Jason and Darren to deliver a better performance at Rockingham.

"We still have a lot to learn about the car and each circuit we go to will be a new challenge for us, as the Leon TDI is very different from the petrol-engined Leon raced last year. The two free practice sessions on Saturday morning will be very important in our objective of finding a good qualifying set-up, and if we can qualify well I am sure we will be competitive in the races."

The BTCC race weekend at Rockingham begins with two 40-minute free practice sessions on Saturday 12th April, starting at 09.25 and 12.20, followed by a 30-minute qualifying session starting at 15.25. Rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the BTCC take place on Sunday 13th April, with the three 16-lap races around the 1.94 mile International Super Sports Car Circuit starting at 11.20, 13.25 and 16.45.

ITV4 will have extensive live coverage, with non-stop viewing on race day between 12.30pm-5.30pm. Highlights will be broadcast later the same evening on ITV4 and on ITV1 on Monday 14th April (check local TV listings for details).