Plato takes pole for championship showdown

Jason Plato broke the Brands Hatch Indy lap record on his way to pole position for Sunday’s opening BTCC race. The Chevrolet driver ended a very close session just over a tenth clear of championship rivals Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who will start second and third on the grid, setting up what should be a thrilling climax to the BTCC season.

Plato’s 48.647 lap midway through the session ensures he now supersedes Neal’s 19-month old lap record, and crucially starts tomorrow ahead of all three of the other contenders for the BTCC title. The 42-year-old’s lap was made all the more impressive by the fact that his Chevrolet Cruze is carrying the maximum 45 kilograms of success ballast.

Second place in the championship Neal will start on the front row alongside Plato, with Honda teammate Shedden starting directly behind the Racing Silverline driver, alongside Alex McDowell.

Fellow title contender Tom Onslow-Cole wasn’t on the pace during qualifying, and will start the opening race from tenth on the grid, reducing his chances of still being in the hunt by the time of the second and third races of the day.

Plato was quickest for much of the session, continuing where he left off from the two free practice sessions to top the time sheets early on, although he was briefly usurped by teammate McDowell, and Shedden, either side of a interruption when Lea Wood went off at Clearways.

Neal and Shedden were building speed however, with the Scot topping the times straight after the re-start with a 48.791, which Plato instantly dipped under with a 48.725. Neal then slipped ahead of Shedden, but couldn’t usurp Plato who continued to go quicker.

A second red flag with around four and a half minutes left after John George stopped on track at Clearways saw Neal opt to finish the session in the garage, while Plato and McDowell continued to pound around with impressive pace.

Despite Andy Neate going off on Hailwood Hill with just over a minute remaining, there were no further interruptions, allowing Plato to ease to the final pole position of 2010, and the solitary championship point that comes with it.

Tom Chilton was the best non-Honda or Chevrolet in fifth, 0.224 back, while Mat Jackson in sixth was the leading BMW.

Series newcomer Sam Tordoff will start eighth, having been as high as sixth relatively late on in the session, though fellow BTCC debutant Ben Collins’ poor Saturday continued, as his Airwaves BMW only completed four slow laps during the session thanks to gearbox problems, leaving him right down in 22nd place.

Further back were James Kaye and David Pinkney, both of whom failed to appear in qualifying. Kaye’s Saturday was stalled by clutch problems, while thanks to engine problems Pinkney’s 2010 campaign may have ended prematurely.