Plato excited about new season

Yesterday the Triple Eight Race Engineering-built NGTC MG made its on track debut at Silverstone with Jason Plato at the wheel. TcT spoke to Plato about the new car, working with the team with whom he won a BTCC Championship and his expectations for the 2012 season.

TcT: How are you feeling about the 2012 season?
“I’m very excited. This is a really exciting project we’re involved in and we’ve got some great people there, a great team, great sponsors and we’ll have a great championship so it’s all to play for. Obviously my record and my experience speak for themselves, so I think we are in great shape.”

TcT: What was your reasoning for rejoining Triple Eight?
“I think if I look back to the end of last year with the potential deal that we had it would have been very difficult to place that deal with someone that gave me confidence. Triple Eight was the only team that I believed could pull off what we needed to pull off in a short space of time, so it’s great to be back with some old friends there. I won my first Championship with Triple Eight in 2001 so their record speaks volumes. They’re one of the most successful teams in the Championship’s history, so if anyone can turn a road-going MG into a race car it’s them. They have done it before and know how it works.”

TcT: How is the build of the two NGTC-spec MGs going?
“We’re a little bit behind the game in terms of time. My car is only just built and Andy’s is halfway through but if anyone can pull the stops out and make this competitive it will be Triple Eight. There’s not been a lot of sleep for the past two weeks to be fair. They’ve done an amazing job though, you saw that when we revealed the car. It looks great but more importantly the level of detail in the engineering is second to none. We are a little bit behind but that is the only downside. I think we can sort that out quickly.”

TcT: What are your expectations for Brands Hatch?
“I think if I was a betting man I would place a bet that we are not going to be ship shape and orderly for Brands Hatch, but I think we will be in the mix. Our target if you like for the first couple of races is to make sure we have reliability and to use them as tests. We want to make sure we finish and pick up points, but try things on the car because the sooner we learn about it the sooner we discover where the sweet spot is.”

TcT: And the Championship?
“I think the last few years I’ve been in the Championship I win on average six or seven races and that is still the target this year. I think if we can get through the first three meetings with reliability but also if we try something wacky on the car and we learn something from it, then the sooner we can unleash its performance and mount a championship campaign. I think come the end of the year we will be in the mix. The car has got potential and I’ve got a warm little inner glow.”