BTCC STAR PLATO WILL BE "BALLS OUT" AT DONINGTON
Jason Plato has said he'll need to drive "balls out"
at Donington Park on Sunday (30 July) if he's to continue
closing down Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship points
leader Matt Neal as the series enters its second half of the
season.
Plato is third in the standings - some 40 points adrift of
reigning champion Neal. SEAT driver Plato took five points
out of Team Halfords rival Neal in the latest rounds at Croft,
but the gap between them is still almost the equivalent of
three race wins.
But Plato, who's now just three points away from nabbing
second spot in the standings from Team RAC MG driver Colin
Turkington, believes his Super 2000-spec SEAT Leon could give
him an edge over Neal's BTC-spec Honda around Donington's
high-speed swoops.
Plato, champion in 2001, said: "I have many happy racing
memories of Donington and I think it will be a good track
for us this year again because even though it's fast - and
our Leon is down on top straight-line speed - all the corners
are pretty fast and flowing.
"We can maximise our good chassis by keeping our foot
in around the corners and hopefully the BTC-spec cars won't
be able to catch up down the straights. It's going to take
some balls-out driving, but it's just the way I like it."
Plato knows that if he's to win the title for the second
time in his career he needs to take on average at least eight
points from Neal in each of the BTCC's remaining five meetings.
Currently, even if they were to tie on points at season's
end, Neal would still be crowned champion as he has more wins,
five to Plato's three.
Plato added: "If we achieve what we
did at Croft for the remaining races this year, it's going
to be a fantastic fight to the finish. I've had three non-finishes
this year and between them the two guys ahead of me, Matt
and Colin, have had one. You have to applaud them for that,
but even with my three non-scores I'm right up there.
"If they have a retirement and I score well the points
situation will dramatically change. We gained five points
on the leader at Croft and the aim is to gain even more at
Donington.
"If we can put Matt and Colin under pressure, mistakes
can happen. It's wide open. We're going on a full-out attack
and it will be very exciting to watch.
"The second half of the season is about to get under
way and I think we could be in for a very exciting finish.
There is nothing I'd like better than the three of us to go
into the final race of the year on equal points and the winner
takes all. It would be a fantastic way to win the title."
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