Rockingham from the Chevrolet perspective

The following press release comes to us from Chevrolet. It's important to note that...

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Plato leads Austin, O'Neil and Neal at Rockingham
He got too close to Neal in Qualifying!

A superb qualifying session and a textbook victory in the first of the Rockingham races in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship have helped keep reigning champion Jason Plato’s championship title hopes alive as the season heads towards its climax.

Despite some controversy during Saturday’s qualifying session (Read on, dear Overdrive visitor), the Oxfordshire-based ace put the RML-prepared Silverline Chevrolet Cruze on pole position to lead Race One from start to finish at the Northamptonshire circuit. And it was a Chevrolet Cruze 1-2, with independent driver Paul O’Neill bringing his privately entered Cruze home in second, his best result of the season.

The first race wasn’t so lucky for Plato’s team mate, 20-year old Alex MacDowall. The Cumbrian driver was heading for a solid points finish, but tangled with Andy Neate’s Ford Focus on lap 8, somehow managing to recover his Cruze from what could have been a massive high-speed accident to avoid further collision.

Race Two was always going to be a challenge, with Rockingham’s fast home straight and NASCAR-style oval turns limiting the first race winner’s acceleration, thanks to 45kg of success ballast. Plato was immediately put under pressure by the two turbocharged Hondas, which were carrying no success ballast, but remained in contention throughout to finish a solid fourth.

Plato celebrates victory in race 1

But it was further frustration for his young team-mate. Having started from 15^th on the grid, MacDowall had climbed to 10^th overall before he was pushed into a spin by Rob Austin’s Audi on the unlucky 13^th of the race’s 16 laps.

Race Three saw another stunning drive from Plato, passing four cars, including both Hondas, in one manoeuvre and then edging ahead of Jeff Smith on Lap 7 to finish 5^th overall, from a mid-table start. Critically, Plato finished ahead of both Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who scored no points in the day’s final race, to edge closer to contention in the title. MacDowall’s race was, thankfully, uneventful and he finished 11^th overall.

Plato now trails championship leader Gordon Shedden by 24 points, with a maximum of 104 points available from the last two meetings of the season, at Brands Hatch, Kent, on October 2 and Silverstone, Northants, on October 16.

To find out more about the Silverline Chevrolet BTCC team, visit www.chevroletbtcc.co.uk, or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/chevroletbtcc

Championship Standings

Gordon Shedden, Honda Racing 204

Matt Neal, Honda Racing 204

Jason Plato, Silverline Chevrolet 180

Matt Jackson, Airwaves Ford 159

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Brilliant. Well Done Mr. Plato! But what about that controversy then? ITV sport captured the moment and the consequences afterwards):

Now we all know that drivers can come under the influence of the red mist, and tempers do occasionally flare up, but these two are professionals - Plato is even a director of the BRDC - Whatever happened on the track was no call for either of them to kick off in the manner that they did... these are supposed to be role models for the new crop of young drivers coming up through the ranks. I think that both of them deserve their penalties ... do you agree? Have your say over on our Facebook page : http://ow.ly/6xi1z