Plato Keeps BTCC Lead as Turner Wins Twice in Scotland

03 September 2007

Jason Plato has extended his lead in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after beating arch rival Fabrizio Giovanardi in two out of three races at Scotland’s National Motorsport Centre at Knockhill. With just the final race meeting at Thruxton (October 13-14) remaining, the SEAT Sport UK driver is 9 points ahead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship table.

Darren Turner enjoyed his best BTCC race weekend ever, qualifying on pole and winning the opening two races with a pair of lights to flag runs. In front of a huge crowd, Darren then finished 7th in the third and final race to complete a fantastic day. He also moves up to 6th in the Drivers’ standings.

SEAT out-scored Vauxhall in all three races at Knockhill, scoring 77 points out of a possible 81 to close the gap at the top of the Manufacturers’ standings to just 3 points, while SEAT Sport UK is 46 points clear in the BTCC Teams’ Championship.

As Championship leader, Jason started Race 1 with 45kgs of success ballast in his SEAT Leon and after a great start from 4th on the grid finished 3rd (with Giovanardi classified 6th). He held 3rd for much of Race 2, but was struggling for pace on the long uphill drag out of the Real Radio Hairpin and up over the start/finish line and did extremely well to finish 5th (with Giovanardi in 3rd). An equally determined drive in the third and final race saw Jason finish 3rd – to score his 102nd podium of his 10 year BTCC career. Giovanardi was 5th.

Early morning rain and low cloud had cleared when the first of three BTCC races began at Knockhill. It was dry enough for slick tyres, but conditions were slippery and cold – with an air temperature of just 14°C at the picturesque Dunfermline venue. Darren made a great start to lead from start to finish – a feat he repeated in Race 2, scoring a pair of brilliant back-to-back BTCC race victories in similar conditions. The sunshine came out for the third and final race of the day (although it was still only 16°C), and with the randomly selected reverse grid, Darren started 8th and with the maximum 45kgs of success ballast on his SEAT Leon. He never put a foot wrong over the 24 lap encounter and finished 7th, ensuring he and Jason scored Championship points in all three races.

ROUND 25
Darren made a fantastic start to lead from pole into the first corner, SEAT Curves, as the top five circulated the opening lap in grid order.

As Colin Turkington (BMW) and Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic) battled for 2nd, Darren was able to pull away and open up a two second lead after three laps. When Shedden overtook Turkington on lap four, the local driver began to close on the leader. At the end of lap 18, Shedden dived down the inside of Darren at the Real Radio Hairpin, but he ran into the side of the SEAT Leon and then turned into the pit lane with front left suspension damage. This left Darren with a 4.5 second lead, which he used to cruise to his second BTCC victory of the season.

With Darren out in front and Turkington in a lonely 2nd, the exciting part of the race was a five car battle for 3rd. Having been 4th in the early stages, Jason Plato slipped down to 6th as the 45kgs of success ballast became a hefty penalty. Try as he might at the Hairpin, he didn’t have the uphill speed along the start/finish straight to make several overtaking manoeuvres on Tom Onslow-Cole (BMW 320si) stick.

The final podium place was decided when Onslow-Cole tried to overtake Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra) on the inside of Carlube corner. The two clashed, with Giovanardi run into the gravel and regain the track in 7th, while Jason overtook him and Onslow-Cole, who had lost momentum, to move up to 3rd. In an exciting last lap, Jason held on brilliantly to take 3rd. Onslow-Cole was later excluded from 4th because of his involvement in the incident.

ROUND 26
It was a carbon copy of the previous race for Darren, who made another brilliant start from pole and led all the way to score his third BTCC win of the season – and his second win of the day – in his SEAT Leon. He led Turkington all the way to the chequered flag, even with 45kgs of success ballast, courtesy of his race one win.

Jason was once again involved in a close battle for 3rd, which this time involved six cars. The SEAT Leon driver held 3rd for the first 10 laps, but was slower than the cars around him going up the hill out of Real Radio Hairpin. Giovanardi finally overtook Jason at SEAT Curves on lap 11, and on the same lap Shedden went up the inside of Jason at the Hairpin. Jason continued to follow Shedden and Giovanardi closely, whilst keeping a hard-charging Matt Neal (Honda Civic) behind him, eventually crossing the line in 5th.

ROUND 27
With the top eight from the previous race randomly selected to start the third and final race at Knockhill in reverse order, Jason started from 4th and Darren from 8th. As both SEAT Leons started from the steepest part of the grid, it was no surprise to see both lose a place at the start.

Jason held 5th, before he overtook Adam Jones (SEAT Toledo) and then followed Shedden past Mike Jordan (Honda Integra) on the inside of Scotsman corner on lap six to move up to 3rd. Shedden overtook team-mate Matt Neal on lap 16 to take a home win, and Jason followed the two orange Hondas home in 3rd place.

Having been 9th at the end of the opening lap, Darren raced well with maximum success ballast to complete a fantastic day in 7th.

The final BTCC race weekend of the season (Rounds 28, 29 and 30) takes place at Thruxton in Hampshire on October 13-14.

SEAT Sport UK

See series calendar for British Touring Car Championship 2007

Related Story 28.08.2007 - Scottish BTCC Ace Shedden Hoping Rivals Will Slip Up at Knockhill