SEAT Sport UK came away from Rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton today with plenty to celebrate - its first one-two race victory of the season, James Pickford’s first ever BTCC podium, all three Toledo Cupras starting from the top three positions on the grid and Jason Plato ending the weekend on a high with a win in the third and final race of the day!

James shone throughout the weekend. He set 6th fastest time in qualifying only to have his times scrapped because he failed to stop at the weighbridge. He then charged from 14th on the grid to finish 6th in Round 19, set several fastest laps during the weekend and held off Yvan Muller in Round 21 to finish 2nd and record his first ever BTCC podium.

Jason had mixed fortunes at Snetterton as his engine failed five laps into the opening race of the day. With a new engine installed, he started Round 20 from the back of the grid and drove tactically to secure a high grid position for the day’s final race. By finishing 10th Jason started Round 21 from pole position and led from start to finish, helped by James’ defensive driving which kept the rest of the pack out of harms way.

Luke Hines suffered more bad luck this weekend as taps from behind in Rounds 19 and 21 sent him spinning off the track. In Round 19 he ran wide going into the Essess on the opening lap and was accidentally brushed by Jason who was following closely behind. Luke spun off and rejoined the track in last place but made his way back through the field to finish 10th. In Round 20 he too drove tactically to finish 8th and start Round 21 from the second row of the grid. However, in the final race of the day he was hit into a spin by Dan Eaves as he turned into the Essess on lap three, which dropped him back to 10th place. Luke managed to rejoin and climb up to 9th only to retire three laps from the end with engine problems.

Jason said: “We’ve been on the back foot ever since I had engine failure in the first race as the guys were up against it so much to change the engine in time for the next one, and because of that we didn’t have a chance to change anything else. I had a diff problem in the first race which we then carried into the second, so for the third we were at the stage of getting the car back to where it should be. I did have a good car in the final race and it was doing exactly what I needed it to do. I got a great start and an excellent first lap and kind of built up a lead from there, so text book stuff really.

“I think James drove an excellent race and we should all congratulate him because he soaked up a lot of pressure from Yvan, who’s a canny old fox and it’s not easy thing to keep him back especially as I think the Vauxhall had a lot more pace than James’ car. It’s a great result and important for the team. We can’t forget however that we won that race because we had three cars starting at the front of the grid and we were only up there because we played the reverse grid card. We just don’t have the pace to compete with the BTCC spec. cars as they are far too light. We’re about half a second a lap off where we need to be, and that’s not us it’s the regulations I’m afraid, so we’re still going to go to the next race with our hands tied behind our backs unless something changes.”

James said: “It’s long overdue but I feel wonderful! It’s absolutely fabulous to have my first BTCC podium, especially a one-two up there side by side with Jason. Two laps from the end Yvan Muller and Matt Neal were closing in on me and I just kept my head down. You can’t get much more pressure than having a guy like Muller behind you and I think that I dealt with it quite well really, so I’m over the moon. I worked really hard for that. There were a couple of times when I thought that Yvan was on his way through but he made a few mistakes and that gave me the break I needed. I just said to myself ‘don’t look behind you, keep on looking forward’ and that’s harder said than done! I drove the car so hard and was so far on the limit that I nearly went off three or four times.

“I’ve not raced at Snetterton since 2001 and that was in a single seater, so I didn’t know what to expect driving a saloon car here for the first time - so to get that result is just brilliant. It’s given me a bit more confidence and we’ll go to the last few races stronger and looking for wins. This is brilliant because the team’s worked so hard and it’s exactly what they needed to give them a lift. The only reason it’s only taken this long to get this result is because the other cars out on the grid are too light. If that was put right we’d be up there fighting as this is where SEAT should rightfully be.”

Luke said: “In the last race Eaves hit me really hard going into the Essess and spun me around; it’s annoying because there was a possibility of getting a one, two, three. I was ahead so he shouldn’t have touched me really - he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with hitting me that hard especially on a high speed corner like that. That ruined my whole race as it cost me so much time getting back on to the track. I’ve struggled all weekend here and I’ve also had a lot of bad luck. The car’s going well, but it just seems like it isn’t coming together for me at the moment. It’s good for SEAT that it’s had a one-two here, I just wish I could have been up there with Jason and James - but I’ll keep working at it. I’ll never give up trying and I try not to let it get to me when I have a weekend like this. I’ll just work harder and hope that luck is on my side at the next race.”

Scott Dennis, SEAT UK Motorsport Manager, said: “Finishing with a one-two race win is a great end to a difficult weekend and it’s a fantastic result for the team, especially Jason’s crew who worked their socks off to replace his engine. But what we can’t forget is that this result is due to the reverse grid rule and not necessarily an indication of the outright pace of our Super 2000 spec Toledo Cupra compared to the BTCC spec. cars.”