Seat enjoys successful Pembrey test with Plato

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Tue 6th July 2004 SEAT Sport UK enjoyed a successful test at Pembrey last Thursday (1 July), taking advantage of the mid-season break to experiment with different suspension settings.

Having tested only once, at Albacete, this season, Jason Plato drove the lone Toledo Cupra, and also tested a new direct drive power steering pump. Team-mate Rob Huff attended the test in a non-driving capacity, playing an important role in technical briefings.

Plato said: “The aim of the test was to improve the base set-up and learn more about the Toledo Cupra. Albacete was the only test we’ve had before now, and that was before the season started, so it was good to see what works and what doesn’t. The direct drive steering pump was the only new thing we tried, and it certainly makes the steering more uniformed and the car easier to drive.”

Mark Busfield, SEAT Sport UK BTCC Project Manager, said: “Pembrey is a very cost effective place to test and it’s a good circuit because it has a bit of everything. We have learnt a lot about the car on high-speed corners, which will be good for parts of Croft and Snetterton, and with a hairpin we have a lot of good data which we can benefit from at Knockhill. We were also very lucky with the weather and on an almost empty track we achieved everything we set out to do. It was a very good test.”

Whilst testing during the BTCC season is extremely restricted, SEAT Sport UK will return to Pembrey later this month for another test, under the dispensation that permits manufacturers in their first season in the BTCC to carry out limited development work.