CROFT CROWDS IN FOR "A CRACKER", SAYS PLATO
Jason Plato believes the North East’s Dunlop British
Touring Car crowds are in for “a cracker” when
the championship visits the region on Sunday 3 June.
The BTCC is just days away from making its annual appearance
at the Croft circuit near Darlington. Tens of thousands of
fans flock to the event as it is their only opportunity of
the year to see Britain’s premier race series in action.
And Newcastle-raised Plato, the current championship leader,
says the evidence suggests that 2007’s event could be
the most exciting since Croft started staging BTCC meetings
ten years ago.
“The crowds are in for a cracker,” said SEAT
star Plato. “The form book suggests any one of up to
15 drivers could end up winning one of the three rounds on
race day.
“SEAT has a great car in the Leon, Vauxhall’s
new Vectra is coming on in leaps and bounds and, although
its car arrived late in the day, Team Halfords’ new
Honda Civic has started to show genuinely strong form. We’ve
also seen BMWs and Alfa Romeos lead races at some point and,
at Thruxton a few weeks ago, there was one moment when we
had five cars abreast.
“The Croft track also has a few very tempting overtaking
spots and the public can get some great views from the banking
around the track. They’ve made it free for children
as well and it’s going to be a great day out for families.”
Although he lives in Oxford these days, Plato is eager to
win in front of what he perceives to be a home crowd. Arriving
at Croft, he leads Vauxhall’s Italian ace Fabrizio Giovanardi
by just nine points – each has so far won four times
in 2007. Next up is Giovanardi’s team-mate Tom Chilton
followed by Halfords’ reigning champion Matt Neal.
Plato added: “I actually think my championship lead
could be a little bit bigger had it not been for a bit of
bad luck at Thruxton a few weeks ago when my car had a small
electrical problem when I was second on the starting grid.
I’m confident I’d have beaten Giovanardi in that
race but ended up sixth. I lost points when I shouldn’t
have.
“But Croft has always been a very happy hunting ground
for me and for SEAT – we’ve won three times in
the last three years and I believe the Leon will be at its
most potent around a track like Croft which has a good mixture
of corners.
“As the championship leader my car will carry an extra
45kgs in success ballast in qualifying and race one. My team-mate-mate
Darren Turner has no ballast so should be a good bet for pole
position. Realistically the best I can hope for is second
but, as I’ve already said, anything can happen in the
races.
“I go into every race trying to win but who knows…
it could be someone new this time.”
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