Plato leads SEAT 1-2 in race 1

Plato and Turner had locked out the front row on the last lap of qualifying after making the right call to run slicks on the front and wets on the back in Saturday's half hour session. They carried that dominance into today (Sunday) with Plato leading from start to finish despite the intervention of two safety cars.

Turner held second throughout for his career-best BTCC finish, scoring valuable points for SEAT in the manufacturers' championship and restricting championship leader Matt Neal to third place.

Neal pressured Turner during the middle stages of the race, but was eventually forced to settle for a comfortable third. Plato paid tribute to the wet weather pace of his SEAT Leon.

"The car in these conditions is the best on the grid," said Plato. "In the dry we've got a power and aerodynamic disadvantage, but when it's wet we've got an advantage. But it's only one race, and we've got to carry this form into the next two."

Gareth Howell claimed a season's-best fourth place, backing up fellow Team Dynamics Honda Integra-R pilot Neal. Howell had run sixth on the first lap, but forced his way past both Colin Turkington's MG and Fabrizio Giovanardi's Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch and narrowly missed out on the podium.

Giovanardi held on to finish fifth in a race which had promised much, but was undermined by starting in neutral.

A number of front-runners hit trouble during the race. Home hero Gordon Shedden was right on Turner's tail into the first corner from fourth on the grid, only to clip the back of the SEAT and pitch himself into the gravel. The Scot kept his foot in and slid back onto the track ahead of Neal to hold the position.

However, the Scot again suffered after clipping Turner while attempting to pass around the outside of the hairpin on lap four. The contact caused a front-right puncture, forcing a visit to the pits which also earned him a drive-through penalty for ignoring a red light at the end of the pit-lane.

Shedden took advantage of the two safety cars to remain on the lead lap despite making a third visit to the pit-lane for another new wheel and in the closing stages of the race scythed his way through to seventh.

Independent Mike Jordan almost lost out to Shedden, but was able to hold on to take a superb sixth place despite starting from the back of the grid after a last-minute alternator change. Jordan had earlier survived a clash with the Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R of James Kaye which ended with the latter in the barrier.

The newly biofuelled WSR team endured a difficult race. Colin Turkington could manage only eight place, complaining of a lack of balance in the wet and struggling with a misting problem that made visibility poor.

He at least fared better than teammate Rob Collard, who retired from sixth under the second safety car with a total power loss as a result of electrical problems.

"Eighth isn't a complete disaster, we're still thereabouts for the second race," said Turkington. "We're hoping that it will dry up a bit for the second race because we're struggling to find a balance in the wet."

Collard was left lamenting the bad luck which has dogged his season. "We had an electrical problem," he explained. "It started four or five laps in and at the exit of the hairpin the car just cut out. It's disappointing, because I though we could have challenged Giovanardi later in the race."

Independents Jason Hughes (Kartworld MG ZS) and Mark Proctor (Fast-Tec Honda Civic Type-R) completed the points scorers in ninth and tenth. Proctor did well to make the points after being clattered by Kaye at the hairpin early in the race and dropping to the back of the field.

Adam Jones (Xero Competition Lexus IS200) completed the runners on the lead lap, with Tom Chilton bringing his Astra home a lap down in 12th after clipping the barrier at the exit of the chicane after being caught out on the wet exit kerb.

Also in the wars during the race were David Pinkney and Gavin Smith. Pinkney, driving his Motorbase Performance-run Integra, had charged through to ninth place, only for the Northern Irishman to lose it into McIntyre's and fire into Pinkney's driver side door. The clash put both out on the spot, and Pinkney was not shy of expressing his displeasure with some distinctive hand signals.

Plato and Turner will start the second race from the front of the grid, although Plato will carry an extra 18kg of success ballast by dint of his win. He now trails Neal in the championship by just 33 points, with Turkington a further one point adrift in third.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver               Make                        Time
 1.  Jason Plato          SEAT Leon                   29:34.436
 2.  Darren Turner        SEAT Leon                   +   1.193
 3.  Matt Neal            Honda Integra               +   1.865
 4.  Gareth Howell        Honda Integra               +   2.554
 5.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  +   5.360
 6.  Mike Jordan          Honda Integra               +   7.869
 7.  Gordon Shedden       Honda Integra               +   8.303
 8.  Colin Turkington     MG ZS                       +   9.441
 9.  Jason Hughes         MG ZS                       +  11.363
10.  Mark Proctor         Honda Civic Type R          +  14.341
11.  Adam Jones           Lexus IS200                 +  34.204
12.  Tom Chilton          Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  +   1 lap

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Driver               Make                        On Lap
     Robert Collard       MG ZS                         15
     David Pinkney        Honda Integra                 12
     Gavin Smith          Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch    12
     Martyn Bell          BMW 320i E46                   4
     James Kaye           Honda Civic Type R             3
     Richard Marsh        Peugeot 307                    3

Fastest Lap: Gordon Shedden, 57.966 on lap 3