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Plato wins first race at Brands Hatch as Hondas fail to score

BTCC News | Sun 2nd October 2011

Jason Plato claimed a dominant victory in the first race of the day at Brands Hatch, in what could prove to be a pivotal moment in the championship battle.

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By Matt Lamprell

It was a full house for Plato, as he picked up bonus points for pole position, leading the race and setting the fastest lap. It was a performance that was made all the better for the Silverline Chevrolet driver by both Honda Racing drivers failing to score.

Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden both suffered punctures during the 15-lap race and while both were able to recover to the pits, points finishes were out of the question. With five races remaining, the Honda pair still share the lead, but Plato is now just six points behind.

At the beginning of the race, Plato, starting from pole, made the most of fellow front row sitter Andrew Jordan being absent from the grid to ease into the lead. Jordan failed to make the start after an electrical problem left his Vectra stranded in the pitlane.

Alex MacDowall and Matt Neal took up second and third places respectively going into Paddock Hill Bend, both getting ahead of James Nash off the line. Nash was soon under further pressure, this time from Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson, but the Triple Eight driver held on to fourth.

The first few laps of the race were fairly settled at the front, although Jackson continued to put Nash under pressure for fourth.

The drama started on lap seven when Gordon Shedden slid sideways going through Graham Hill Bend, ending up on the grass on the outside. It was a great recovery from the Scot to get the Civic pointing in the right direction again, but he now found himself down in ninth position.

It got worse for Honda as the race went on. Neal was the first to suffer a puncture, slowing and heading into the pits on lap 11. The same fate was to befall Shedden on the penultimate lap of the race.

With both Hondas well down the order, it was a relatively straightforward run to the flag for Plato. Following the race, he said, "My car’s fantastic. Yesterday, we hit the ground running and the guys have done a lot of hard work to get the car to where it is now. It’s composed and flat – it’s perfect really.

"I’m sure Honda will be kicking themselves after that race. It looks they’ve made a team error, running too much camber on the car."

Plato had his teammate Alex MacDowall as his ‘rear-gunner’ for much of the race. With three laps remaining, the pair had a three-second lead over Mat Jackson in third, however, MacDowall felt a vibration in his Cruze in the closing stages and opted to slow his pace, which allowed Jackson through into second.

For Jackson, it was a return to form after six consecutive disappointing races that have seen him fail to finish in a point-scoring position. He benefitted from Matt Neal’s demise to pass James Nash.

Jackson said: “I saw Neal had a left front puncture and I thought he would probably go left, so I went right. I had to put two wheels on the grass, but James [Nash] went left and was able to take the place. Then I caught MacDowall towards the end for second. The Airwaves Focus was phenomenal out there – it’s just so great to get a result at last.”

Behind Plato, Jackson and MacDowall, Nash finished fourth, ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole in the first of the Team Aon Fords. Sixth place went to Paul O’Neill, with Tom Chilton seventh and Rob Collard eighth. Andy Neate finished ninth, ahead of Nick Foster in tenth.

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