Jason Plato and James Thompson, the most illustrious driving force in this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, will launch SEAT Sport UK’s challenge for the Manufacturers’ title when they give the new Leon touring car its UK debut at the opening race weekend of the season at Brands Hatch (April 8/9).

It’s the first time that Jason and James, who have won three BTCC titles and 55 races between them, have been official team-mates. In 2001 they both raced the same make of car, but while Jason was in the Vauxhall 888 Motorsport team, James was driving for Team Egg Sport.

Both drivers have a good record at Brands Hatch – and it’s a particularly happy hunting ground for Jason, as he clinched both the 1999 Renault Spider Cup and 2001 BTCC Drivers’ titles there. With such big competitive personalities, Jason and James (the 2002 and ’04 BTC Champion) have naturally had their on-track altercations, and one of the most famous was at the BTCC race meeting at Brands Hatch in 1997.

Jason and James collided on the opening lap at Druids, and when lightning struck twice on the opening lap of the second race, James abandoned his stricken car and sprinted towards the pit lane, where he knew Jason would be as his car had sustained front-end damage. Whilst Jason was stopped outside his pit garage, James ran down the pit lane towards him, arms waving and ready to give Jason a good talking too. This run was captured on Jason’s in-car camera and later edited in slow motion, set to the music from Chariots of Fire and given to Jason as a memento!

Nine years on and their competitiveness remains undiminished, but today Jason and James are also good friends and have enormous respective for each other’s driving skill. For this year’s BTCC they have come together for the first time to form a strong union with the clear aim of trying to win the Manufacturers’ title for SEAT. A repeat of 1997 is not on the agenda!

At the official pre-season BTCC test session at Brands Hatch, Jason and James were separated by just 0.034 seconds. James did 45 laps of the Indy Circuit in his Leon to post a best time of 49.492 (3rd fastest), while Jason did 35 laps with a best time of 49.526 (5th fastest).

Jason said: “I’m always excited at the start of a new season, but I’ve never been more eager to get going than I am this year. With the new Leon I think we have a good chance of winning races and really challenging for the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. The opposition is very strong and we don’t yet know how we compare in terms of performance, but I’m confident that we have done all we can to prepare for the opening race weekend at Brands Hatch. The new Leon has been incredibly reliable in testing and while we could do with a little bit more straight-line speed, the chassis is good and we should be on the money around the Indy Circuit. The racing’s going to be incredibly close this year – and no more so than at the first race meeting.”

James said: “It was nice to see everyone at Brands Hatch recently, because during the winter you just test on your lonesome. I wouldn’t take much notice of the lap times, because I’m sure a lot of people were sandbagging. We used the test to work through a series of things and when we had ticked all the boxes we stopped. It was the first time I’d driven my SEAT Sport UK race car on Dunlop tyres, and with the full team there, and everything went very well. I’m happy, but in terms of how competitive we are, we won’t know for sure until the first qualifying session when I’m sure everyone will be trying to lap as fast as they can. I will, anyway! The tight and twisty Brands Hatch Indy Circuit should suit the Leon very well, because the car’s got a fantastic chassis and it handles very well over the kerbs. As a team, we’re very hopeful of starting the season well and coming away from Brands Hatch with a lot of points.”

The BTCC action begins on Saturday 8th April with two 40 minutes free practice sessions, starting at 09.30 and 12.00, followed by a 30 minute qualifying session for Round 1 at 15.10. On Sunday 9th April there will be three 24 lap races around the 1.226 mile Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, beginning at 11.20, 13.25 and 15.50. ITV1 will be broadcasting live from Brands Hatch on the Sunday, so check TV listings for more details.