PLATO TIMES IT TO PERFECTION FOR SEAT'S FIRST POLE POSITION
On a drying track, Jason Plato topped a dramatic qualifying
session to take pole position for tomorrow's (Sunday) seventh
round of the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship
at Silverstone. Plato's achievement marked the first time
that SEAT has headed a BTCC qualifying session and also denied
Vauxhall's James Thompson of top spot and the bonus point
that would have put him into an overnight championship lead.
Plato, whose Toledo Cupra was written off in a shunt at Brands
Hatch a fortnight ago, said: "What a way to bounce back.
The car had to be thrown in a skip after Brands, so this feels
doubly sweet. I think everyone knew it would come down to
the last lap so I worked to a plan to get heat into my tyres
and then gave it everything. I almost blew it - I only just
beat the chequered flag to start that lap."
Thompson was forced to settle for second best, but his achievement
was notable for the fact that his Vauxhall Astra was carrying
maximum success ballast following his victory in the previous
round at Brands.
Computeach Racing with Halfords team-mates Matt Neal and
Dan Eaves were third and fourth in their Honda Civics, ahead
of the Japanese manufacturer's factory driver Tom Chilton
and Colin Turkington, in WSR team's MG ZS.
Reigning champion Yvan Muller, who remains tied for the championship
lead with Vauxhall team-mate Thompson, was back in eighth.
Muller experimented with different tyre variations, but his
efforts failed to pay dividends.
Muller said: "We just got the timing wrong - when I
was out on wet weather tyres it was right for slicks and when
I was on slicks it was right for wets. If it's dry tomorrow,
I am not optimistic because I have struggled so far this year
to find a good car set-up in dry conditions."
Also further back than expected were WSR's HarrierZeuros
Independents Trophy leader Anthony Reid, 11th, SEAT Sport
UK's Robert Huff, 13th, and former BTCC race-winner Kelvin
Burt, 16th in a one-off appearance in Team Sureterm's Vauxhall
Astra. All will be worth watching in the first of tomorrow's
three races as they seek to move up the order.
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