“Title is out of reach,” says Jason Plato

Jason Plato took pole position at Silverstone yesterday. The Triple Eight driver will be partnered by title rival Colin Turkington on the front row, after the BMW emerged as just 0.064s slower than the MG6 GT.

The double BTCC champion is however not optimistic for race day, as he believes his rival will lead into the first corner: “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Colin will lead into the first corner, if not the first hundred meters. We have to catch up the advantage he has over the first two or three laps, otherwise he is going to open a gap and win two races tomorrow. We have to try and stop that,” Plato told TouringCarTimes.

Plato is going to look for wins tomorrow, and says he will do his best.

“I don’t think I can close the gap from him at all, unless his car has a problem in all three races. He has such an advantage that things are just this way. Psychology is on my side though, because I literally have nothing to lose. It doesn’t change much for me to come second, third or fourth, I just want to win races.

“Colin has a lot to lose, so if he wants to fight with me for the win tomorrow, it will be a tough fight, and he knows that, so he will have to treat me with a great deal of respect tomorrow.”

Despite his pace at Silverstone, Plato says the championship is now out of reach.

“Fighting can bring us race wins, but for me the championship is completely gone. What we are interested in is winning the manufacturers’ championship for MG, which we are leading at the moment, and of course finishing runner up would mean we are the best of the rest. From my perspective we can’t compete on equal level with that car. It’s not just at the start, they have an overall advantage also in terms of balance.”

The MG driver reviewed the season and talked about Turkington’s dominance: “Going back through the year, he won twice at Oulton Park and Croft, was second twice when I won at Snetterton, and without a grid penalty he would have won twice at Knockhill as well. We then went to Rockingham and he won two races again, and now at Silverstone he has a very good chance to do the same. I’ll leave it to you to work it out.

“It’s not like we all forgot how to drive, or Colin has turned into a superhero. He is a great driver but he has a big advantage in his car, which I believe is unfair.”

Plato is convinced that if the regulations do not change he will have to look for a RWD car to have a realistic championship ambition, and leaves the solution in the hands of TOCA and Alan Gow.

“I think that if the regulations do not change there is no point turning up with a FWD car. The solution to this is not up to me, it’s up to Alan Gow. They are not my regulations, they’re his. He obviously has a very difficult task and they are doing their best. I’m confident they will look at each race when the season is over and look at the advantage the BMWs had this year. Wether you like it or not, this championship is about levelling the field as much as possible so we can have great racing, and that’s what this championship is about. Alan Gow and TOCA want that, we all want the same thing. We will see if they can find the right solution.”

Plato has a 54 points gap from Turkington after taking pole position, which means the BMW driver will have to extend his lead by 13 points if he is to wrap up the championship today.