Halfway through the 30 race Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi are tied for the lead in the Drivers’ standings. A frustrating race weekend at Oulton Park ended on a high for SEAT Sport UK, when Jason and team-mate Darren Turner finished 2nd and 3rd in the third and final race – behind the 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Champion, Mat Jackson, who scored his first BTCC race win in his BMW.

One wet and two dry races, slippery conditions throughout, spectacular high speed accidents and safety car periods were the order of the day at the Cheshire circuit – although Jason mastered the difficult conditions better than most and scored points in all three BTCC races. Having finished 7th and 5th in Race 1 and 2, 2nd place in the third and final race was just reward for a hard team effort to make his SEAT Leon faster over the undulating 2.26 miles Oulton Park Island track.

Darren was unlucky to retire from the opening race after a collision with Dave Pinkney (Alfa Romeo 156), and then came from 23rd on the grid to finish 7th in the second race. He then completed a SEAT two-three in the third race.

ROUND 13

The congested side-by-side grid formation at Oulton Park can cause problems at the start if not all cars get away cleanly, and so it proved in the first of three BTCC races. Matt Neal (Honda Civic) had a bad start from the second row, delaying Jason who started directly behind in 5th. Jason was boxed in and eventually completed the opening lap in 7th place – and unable to make any progress with 45kgs of success ballast on his SEAT Leon, that is exactly where he finished 15 laps later.

Darren started 4th, but lost places at the opening Old Hall Corner when he was forced wide by Jackson and dropped to 9th. On lap two Darren was on the left of Pinkney coming into the Island Bend hairpin, but the Alfa Romeo 156 driver had a problem and, not seeing Darren alongside, moved to the left hand side of the track as well. Darren’s front left wheel hit the rear right of the Alfa, breaking the suspension and putting him out of the race.

ROUND 14

Heavy rain made the Oulton Park circuit very wet, and a big four-car accident at the first corner – involving Pinkney, Jason Hughes (MG ZS), Simon Blanckley (Honda Integra) and Erkut Kizilirmak (Astra Sport Hatch) – brought the safety car out.

By the time the race re-started six laps later, it had stopped raining – and remarkably, Darren had come from 23rd on the grid to 9th, despite admitting to having a bad start and being run off the road at the Knickerbrook Chicane by Chris Stockton (Lexus IS200). Unfortunately, that incident removed the front splitter, and from lap one onwards Darren’s Leon suffered from severe understeer.

Jason was also suffering from a lack of front end grip, not helped after a minor bump on the opening lap with Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic). Gordon then hit Tom Chilton (Vauxhall Vectra), who had to come into the pits to change a punctured tyre.

At the restart, Gareth Howell (SEAT Toledo) slid off the track and slammed into the tyre barrier at the first corner, bringing the safety car out for another two laps – but with time ticking on, the Oulton Park curfew of 18.30 looming and with lots of races remaining, the original race distance of 15 laps remained and just four racing laps were left when the action resumed.

Having overtaken Stockton, and with Howell crashed out, Darren was up to 7th – which is where he stayed until the chequered flag. Jackson ran wide at Island Bend on lap 12, opening the door for Jason to nip through on the inside and race on to finish 5th.

ROUND 15

With the top eight from the previous race randomly selected to start the third and final race at Oulton Park in reverse order, Darren started on the front row, while Jason started from 4th.

Jackson made an awesome start from the second row to blast between Darren and pole-sitter Adam Jones (SEAT Toledo) to take the lead by the first corner. After a faultless drive, the 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Champion raced on to score his first BTCC win of his career.

Jason overtook his SEAT Sport UK team-mate at Cascades on the opening lap and followed Jackson closely, until a slow right front puncture four laps from the end of the race prevented him from mounting a serious challenge for victory. He eventually finished 2nd, one place ahead of Darren, while a SEAT themed podium was completed by the SEAT UK Motorsport Manager, Scott Dennis, who collected the Manufacturers’ award.

DRIVER QUOTES

Jason Plato (7th/5th/2nd): “It’s been a bit of a frustrating weekend, but at least we’ve finished the final race at Oulton Park on a high with a double podium result. The SEAT Leon has a fantastic chassis; it’s great under braking and through the corners, but down the straights we are too slow and we can’t overtake anyone. It’s only halfway through the Championship and both the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ titles are there for us to win, but at the moment we can’t overtake anyone. We have to find some more straight line speed, because our rivals can pull three or four car lengths away down the straight and by the time we come into a braking area, where all the overtaking takes place, we’re too far behind. Yes we can win the BTCC, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Darren Turner (DNF/7th/3rd): “It’s always going to be a difficult weekend when you don’t finish the first race and have to start the second from the back of the grid, but I was really pleased to come from twenty-third to seventh in the wet and slippery conditions in race two. I didn’t have a bad start in the final race, but I got delayed behind Adam Jones and then I had to fend off the challenge of Gordon Shedden in the closing stages, so it was a real battle right until the end. Jason and I finished second and third in the final race and we picked up a lot of points for the team, so a hard race weekend has ended on a reasonable high.”

Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the BTCC takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire on July 14-15.