Q & A with Jason Plato

Q: How does it feel to be in your fifth year with SEAT?

Jason Plato: "Time flies when you're having fun. It's six years really, because we did the TV and mentoring for the SEAT Cupra Cup before I raced in the BTCC with them, and all the background work for the BTCC team too in that year, six months before we started racing."

Q: You won seven races in SEAT's debut year, but together you have not won the title yet. Have things actually moved forward in that time?

JP: "Of course they have. We have continuity with the engineers now. Remember the team was run by RML in the first year and now we're with Northern South, so it's taken a little while to get everything just as we want it. I think the whole team is very pleased with the way the business runs. We've just got to win the thing now."

Q: So is this the year it will happen?

JP: "Yes, I think it just might be. I said that last year, though - and the year before."

Q: Do you believe it more this time though? Was it a shock to you not to win the title since your 2001 success with Vauxhall?

JP: "It's never a shock not to win, because this is a top championship and the drivers I'm competing against are bloody good at the sharp end and so are the teams, engineers and designers. You can never take anything for granted. That said, we came very close last year and I really think we should have won it.

"You can't see into the future, though. We have a new package this year and we're starting from scratch with the diesel. Even though we know the car, it's a very different beast from last year because of the new engine and the different weight distribution that goes with it. The biggest thing is that it will drive very differently, so we'll have to get used to that.

"That said, there's an awful lot of expertise in this team, a wealth of experience that will help us fast-track that learning curve. But I think Brands Hatch and Rockingham at the start of the season will be difficult events for us because we haven't done as much testing as we would have liked. We've just got to knuckle down though. One thing we know for sure is that the diesel package that we have is going to be quick, and both myself and Darren Turner ought to be competitive with it."

Q: Has SEAT sent anyone from the WTCC squad over to help the team out with their diesel experience this season?

JP: "Not exactly. We work very closely with them anyway - we share information quite freely as we always have. They're helping as much as they can and likewise that information is fed both ways. We find out things with our car that they hopefully can benefit from too."

Q: With fewer drivers in your team than the WTCC squad, is it less likely that you'll all be pulling in different directions with what you want from the car?

JP: The good thing is that Darren likes and dislikes the same things as me in the car, and that's very handy and productive, because testing is so limited now and the tyres are so heavily restricted too.

"Gone are the days when we could pound around the track on a Friday. Now we have two 40-minute sessions and they're not about finding answers, they're about fine-tuning the set-up.

"It is important to have that empathy between the two drivers. That said, a lot of the information we send and receive is pretty meaningless because the WTCC run on Yokohama tyres and our Dunlops are totally different. It's the components area that we can really help each other out."

Q: Do you put losing the title last year down to the burns sustained in your road accident a few days before the final race?

JP: "Not at all."

Q: Do you think it made you any slower?

JP: "It didn't look like it to me, I would have thought it made me faster actually. The disappointment is there at every race we don't win. It was quite unusual though because I think I gave 110 per cent over the race weekend and a whole lot more. It just didn't go our way because we weren't as quick on the day.

"Vauxhall had the quicker car, they had three drivers all working together to win a title, they were 1-2-3 on the grid and I was fourth with no team-mates around me. What am I supposed to do? It was never going to work.

"In many ways though, we got beaten well, and I mean that in terms of Fabrizio beat us the right way. He is a very worthy champion and there were no shenanigans between me and him, and I can't say that about some other of the guys on the track.

"The accident four or five days before the race, in my opinion, made me very uncomfortable out of the car, but in the car it made no difference. You just get in and do your job, and adrenaline is a wonderful substance. So too is the desire to win, it just didn't happen.

"What a fantastic championship we put on, though. The atmosphere was great in the final rounds and that was replicated by how many people turned up at Thruxton for the last races and the TV viewing figures. It was an iconic day."

Q: Is Fabrizio Giovanardi the hardest rival you have come up against in the BTCC?

JP: "I can't say that. What I mean is that last year there was a mutual respect from me to Fabrizio - and the other way too. The kind that you have for certain other drivers. I had that same respect for Alain Menu, Yvan Muller, Rickard Rydell, James Thompson, Frank Biela and Gabriele Tarquini. These sorts of guys who, if you win on the day, you know you've beaten proper people who have been there and done that.

"And it was a new experience last year because it was harmonious between us while there was a load of argy-bargy going on behind us from teams with supposedly legendary drivers."

Q: Was that a refreshing change for you?

JP: "Absolutely, and I hope it continues this year."

Q: Are the driving standards good enough in the BTCC?

JP: "At the sharp end it's as high as it ever was. Further down the grid the quality gap is bigger than it used to be when I started for example - that's drivers and teams.

"If this is Britain's premier racing championship, which it is, then it should have world-class drivers from top to bottom. But life isn't like that, the pound coin is harder to find, there are less manufacturers in the championship now - not because it doesn't work, but because they all own each other now.

"You'll never get Renault racing against Nissan, SEAT racing against Audi, and so on. Those days of having eight or nine manufacturers are long gone. Also we have the WTCC now, which has taken some of the top drivers away.

"Top-line drivers like Menu and Thompson are not going to drive for free, and unless you're a manufacturer - and there's only two of them in the British championship - and you can afford to pay for one, they're not going to come. The WTCC manufacturers have more money and can afford them, simple as that."

Q: How important is it that the BTCC attracts two more manufacturers to run factory teams?

JP: "Very. It's important not just to get the star drivers back, but also because we all want to see some more manufacturers. If you look at what the BTCC can do for a manufacturer, it's a no-brainer. Look at the PR. We get more TV airtime than any other touring car championship in the world and that's a powerful tool.

"Just look at what it's done for SEAT. How many guys who followed motorsport drove SEATs 10 years ago? Not many. Compare that to now. The brand has exploded in the UK and we have to thank the BTCC for that."

Q: It says a lot for experience over youth with Vauxhall running two guys in their 40s, and yourself having just turned 40 as well.

JP: "Well look even at the opening rounds of the WTCC. The winners were 46 and 43, so with touring cars not being like F1, you don't need to be incredibly young and fit. You need experience and racecraft to drive these things.

"Aside from anything else, with the limited testing we have, it's much better to have years of experience behind you because you're already plugged in, unlike some of the newcomers. That makes it much harder for the young guys.

"When I started in the BTCC, I won races in my first season. So did James Thompson and so did Kelvin Burt. We could because we had more testing so manufacturers were more willing to take a risk on us. Now the rookies only win on the reverse grid races - it's just that much harder for them now. Rob Huff was the exception really, it's interesting how the old guys seem to be the ones doing the business."