SEAT Dominates Croft BTCC with Two Wins and Five Podiums

17 July 2006

Winning two out of three races outright and scoring five podium results out of a possible six has enabled SEAT to increase its lead in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. After winning all three Manufacturers' trophies at Croft today and scoring a record 81 points in a clean-sweep, SEAT has increased its advantage at the top of the table from 34 to 77 points. SEAT Sport UK has also retaken the lead in the Teams' standings, while Jason Plato has reduced Matt Neal's lead in the Drivers' Championship by five points, having beaten him twice.

Jason set the scene by winning the opening race - his 28th BTCC victory of his career - and followed that up by finishing 2nd in his 200th BTCC race and 4th in the third and final encounter. Team-mate James Thompson led the first race before settling for 2nd , ran wide and finished 5th in the second race and completed a magnificent day for the team by winning the final race at his home circuit - his 33rd BTCC race win.

A huge crowd basked in glorious North Yorkshire sunshine as 20 cars - the largest BTCC grid this year - battled for honour in three races around the 15 turn 2.1270 mile circuit.

Round 13: James started from pole position and set the fastest lap of the race on lap two - lapping just a tenth of a second slower than he had in qualifying. Jason made an equally good start from 4th , and having overtaken Matt Neal and Fabrizio Giovanardi he began to chase Thompson. As Neal, Giovanardi, Colin Turkington and Rob Collard became embroiled in a spectacular grassy scrap for 3rd , the two SEAT Leons pulled away at the front. A magnificent team effort saw Jason overtake James on the final lap to score his 28th BTCC win on his 199th BTCC race.

Round 14: Both Jason and James made a good start from the all-SEAT front row, although Neal had sprinted his way in between by the time they'd reached the first corner. On his 200th BTCC start, Jason led for 13 of the 15 laps, but with a heavily success-ballasted Leon he couldn't keep ahead of Neal. Despite some fantastic defensive driving, Neal dived down the inside of Jason at the Hairpin at the end of lap 13 and eventually won by 0.966 seconds. James was running well in 3rd , but on the final lap he ran a little wide at Sunny corner and Turkington and Gordon Shedden muscled by. James then won a side-by-side sprint to the line with Gavin Smith, beating the former SEAT Cupra Championship driver to 5th by just 0.012 seconds.

Round 15: With the top six finishers selected to start the third and final race of the day in reverse order, James started from the front row by virtue of finishing 5th in the previous battle. He overtook pole-sitter Smith on lap two and victory never looked in doubt after that - eventually beating Turkington by 2.952 seconds. Jason started 5th and held that position until he moved up when Smith spun on lap six and Shedden went off on lap 12. Jason looked assured of finishing 3rd until Neal drove over the grass on the inside of the Hairpin and won the dash to the chequered flag by 0.008 seconds. Later the BTCC Stewards declared that Neal had gained an unfair advantage by cutting out part of the circuit and reversed the position to give Jason his third podium of the day.

Jason (1st /2nd /3rd ) said: "In the first race today I knew I had to overtake Matt as quickly as possible because once he gets into his rhythm he's very difficult to pass because he's so fast in a straight line. He left a little hole, I was like a rat down a drainpipe and I was through! He was then in a big battle for third and I was able to pull away. James drove a great race and it was a great team effort.

"We hung on for grim death in the second race. We haven't got as much straight-line speed as the Honda and although we have a fantastic chassis and are better in most of the corners, the more the race went on the more the race fell away from us. I had to push so hard in the corners that in these hot conditions the tyres go off very quickly and then we're sitting ducks. I just couldn't hold onto the lead, but I'm not too disappointed. Second's better than third, but not as good as a win.

"I was really annoyed about the final race, because I was on the kerb taking a really tight line around the Hairpin on the final lap and Neal just drove onto the grass on the inside of me. That's not keeping to the circuit, that's not racing and in my book that's just the same as diving in football. You just don't do that.

"Overall, we've done the best we can as a team today and it's really been a great team effort. The Leon has been ultra-reliable, we've extended our lead in the Manufacturers' title to over seventy points, we've chipped away at Neal's lead in the Drivers' standings and we've raced hard and fair all day. You can't do more than that."

James (2nd /5th /1st ) said: "To win at Croft you have to be very fast in the opening two laps, so that's what I tried to do all day. Using that approach, I was able to build up a good lead in the first race because I was out on my own and when I saw Jason behind I let him through. I'm here to win races when I can and I'm here to help the team when I can. Winning the Manufacturers' title is the main aim, and as I can't win the Drivers' title I'd obviously like Jason to. It's a big team effort and this was a great team result.

"We tried some different dampers the second race and the car didn't feel quite as good as it had done in the first race. I'd also been struggling to slow the car down for Sunny corner four or five laps before I ran wide there, but it was just a little mistake and that was enough to allow two cars through.

"We were lucky with the reserve grid to start on the front row in the third and final race, but we made the most of it and had a really good race. I wanted to pass Smith as quickly as I could and after that I was able to pull away. I'm totally made up with that win. It's been a great day for the team, we've extended our lead in the Manufacturers' title and we're up there in the Drivers' standings."

The next rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship take place at Donington Park on July 30.

SEAT

See series calendar for British Touring Car Championship 2006

Related Story 11.07.2006 - Plato to Celebrate his 200th BTCC Race at Croft