PLATO ON POLE POSITION AT DAMP DONINGTON
SEAT Sport UK’s Jason Plato took his second Green Flag
British Touring Car Championship pole position of 2004 with
the fastest lap in qualifying for the first of tomorrow’s
(Sunday) final three rounds of the season at Donington Park,
Leicestershire. Team-mates and title rivals James Thompson
and Yvan Muller, meanwhile, qualified third and fifth fastest.
One of them is almost certain to be crowned the 2004 champion
tomorrow.
On a wet track, Plato set pole position in one minute, 20.843
seconds to edge out Computeach Racing with Halfords Honda
driver Matt Neal, the fastest of the HarrierZeuros Independents
Trophy runners with a lap time of 1m21.197s.
Plato, the BTCC champion in 2001, will earn a bonus point
provided he takes up his starting position tomorrow. It will
help him in his pursuit of WSR MG driver Anthony Reid for
third in the final championship standings. “I desperately,
desperately want third and this is a great way to start,”
said Plato, who lies just seven points behind Reid.
Championship leader James Thompson, aiming to regain the
BTCC title he achieved at Donington in 2002, was third fastest
in his Vauxhall Astra. His team-mate Yvan Muller, the reigning
champion who trails Thompson by four points going into tomorrow’s
title-deciding final three rounds, was fifth fastest.
Thompson, who spun off the track in wet conditions in a practice
session earlier in the day, said: “I’d be a fool
if I said I wasn’t feeling nervous and starting from
the front row of the grid would have been better, but the
important thing is I’m in front of Yvan. I’m really
hungry to win back my title, but there is plenty of hard racing
to do between now and then. Anything could still happen …”
Reid, the only driver left who can mathematically beat Thompson
and Muller to the title, was seventh fastest in WSR’s
MG. Reid comfortably leads the Independents points standings,
but will need to keep an eye on team-mate Colin Turkington
and Neal who can still deny him the crown. Turkington gave
himself a chance to take points out of Reid by qualifying
fourth fastest, between Thompson and Muller.
“I’ve currently got three wins and it would be
great to end the season with four, just like James and Yvan,
but the independents title is my priority,” said Reid.
Just ahead of Reid, qualifying sixth, was outgoing independents
champion Rob Collard, in his Vauxhall Astra. VX Racing Junior
Tech-Speed’s Michael Bentwood, Vauxhall’s Luke
Hines and Team Honda’s Tom Chilton completed the top
ten. Eleventh was SEAT’s Robert Huff, the winner of
the previous round at Snetterton and whose car is handicapped
with maximum success ballast. His progression will be worth
watching as tomorrow’s three races unfold.
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