Jason Plato: “Subaru deal is potentially a game-changer”

Jason Plato says the tie-up between Team BMR and the British Touring Car Championship’s newest manufacturer Subaru could be a game changer in technical terms.

Warren Scott’s outfit will run four Subaru Levorgs in 2016, each powered by a Mountune-developed boxer engine, which is smaller and sits lower in the car than traditional power units.

Plato, who arranged the deal with Subaru himself, is confident the Levorg will offer the best possible platform for success under the BTCC’s current regulations.

“I put the deal in place quite a long time before Christmas and basically said to Warren [Scott] ‘do you fancy a bit of this’ and of course he grabbed it with both hands,” said Plato to TouringCarTimes.

“There were three potential manufacturers I was speaking to since the beginning of the year, and Subaru was the one I could get across the line.

“I’m very pleased, it’s very exciting and has really captured everyone’s imagination. It’s an iconic brand and I believe it’s potentially a game changer technically.

“Since the new regulations have been in place and with the restrictions which have been imposed on us – what you can do to a front-wheel drive car and what you can’t do – this is the holy grail.

“The engine is low down, it has a low centre of gravity, it’s short and rear-wheel drive. It’s the way forward.

“People call it whinging but it’s not, I’m just vocal – rear-wheel drive has an inherent advantage and now we’ve got some of it. I’m dead chuffed.”

Plato has often been called a front-wheel drive touring car specialist, and 2016 will mark his first venture into rear-wheel drive in the series.

However, the two-time champion doesn’t buy into the view that it will put him at a disadvantage.

“I’m looking forward to driving a winning car. It makes no difference, all this talk about ‘he’s a front-wheel drive specialist’ – it’s all bollocks,” said Plato.

“Did it take Colin [Turkington] long to get used to? The only reason he put that out there was to buy himself a bit of time. A racing car is a racing car.

“What I’ll need to get a handle on is that Colin has lots of knowledge about the changes to make and what that does. I need to learn that and the engineers need to learn that. That won’t take long.”