Jason Plato still plagued by straight line speed issues

Team BMR’s Jason Plato says the straight-line speed issues which plagued him at Silverstone have not been solved at Brands Hatch, after qualifying two spots behind title rival Gordon Shedden.

Plato will line up sixth for the first race in his Volkswagen CC, and said he extracted the maximum from the car with 66kg of success ballast on board.

But the double champion remained confused about his deficit in a straight line compared to team-mate Colin Turkington, who will start one place ahead of him on the grid.

Plato trails Shedden by 23 points heading into the first race, with a maximum of 66 now left to play for.

“We don’t know what it is. It’s slower, not by a little bit, but by a chunk. The engine’s been back, the dyno says it’s fine, so maybe it’s something we’ve missed – a wheel bearing, or a problem with the gearbox,” said Plato to TouringCarTimes.

“We are scratching our heads, because it’s poor compared with what it should be, especially when you factor in the corner exits I’m getting. We need to understand it.

“With the car I’ve got I think there’s probably a 1.30.9 in there and we did a 1.31.0, so we’re about there.

“Unless we can fundamentally find more grip [we won’t go faster]. My balance is as good as it’s been. Are we going to do the same time as Jackson? No. Are we going to go quicker than Aron with no weight? No. We’re about where we are.”

Looking ahead to his title fight with Honda Yuasa Racing’s Shedden, Plato said he was relying on his rival encountering some of the issues which have befallen him this season.

“He needs to have some bad luck like a puncture to put him out of the race. He needs someone to drive into the rear of him. I’m not going to be the man who does that because that’s not how you win championships,” said Plato.

“I got a genuine puncture here at the beginning of the year two laps from home, with an easy lead and not pushing. That can happen to anyone.”

With team-mate Aron Smith starting on the front row and title contender Turkington one place ahead of him on the grid, Plato gave his opinion on the matter of team tactics.

“If you’re asking about tactics you should ask the team. I’m not the team – I have to worry about myself. What they may or may not do is not down to me, I just have to think about my race,” he said.

“It’s going to be impossible [to get race two pole] because we’ve got 66kg on board, but we’ve got to try and get towards the sharp end. But we’ve also got to look after the tyres as well. The most important thing is to get the points in race one.”