Plato sets pace in Brands Hatch test

Plato, who was announced as a Chevrolet works driver last week, completed 74 laps during the day and clocked a pace-setting time of 48.662s - almost two tenths under Matt Neal's qualifying lap record set last year.

All the more impressive was that Plato did not take part in the morning session after a mechanical problem was detected on his Cruze that necessitated replacement parts being brought down from the team's headquarters in Northamptonshire.

Gordon Shedden was a surprising second fastest in the best of the works Hondas. He was a little over a tenth slower than Plato and four thousandths quicker than Steven Kane, whose best time came in the morning session in his Motorbase BMW.

Tom Chilton's LPG-powered Arena Ford, Matt Neal's Honda and Rob Collard's WSR BMW were the other cars to dip under the 49-second banner during the day.

Alex MacDowall was the best of the rookie drivers in seventh for Chevrolet, ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole's Arena Ford and Paul O'Neill's Tech-Speed Honda. Eurotech Vauxhall driver Andrew Jordan was the best of the drivers using the TOCA engine in 10th.

Matt Hamilton's morning session was ruined when he bounced across the grass at Surtees and damaged the front splitter on his TH Motorsport Honda. He was able to get out again in the afternoon, and lapped less than a second off the pace in 14th.

A trip through the Paddock gravel caused damage to David Pinkney's Vauxhall during the afternoon, meaning an early end to the BTCC veteran's day.

Shaun Hollamby did not complete a full lap during the morning session in the Volkswagen Golf which his AmD team has now converted to full Super 2000 spec. He did get out for some lengthy runs in the afternoon, but did not set a time due to his transponder not working.

Of the other cars entered for the championship, Martin Depper (Forster BMW) did not complete a lap due to an engine problem, while Triple 8 Vauxhall was not present at Brands Hatch.

Today's times:

Pos Driver            Team                 Car         Time
 1. Jason Plato       Chevrolet            Chevrolet   48.662s
 2. Gordon Shedden    Honda                Honda       48.817s
 3. Steven Kane       Motorbase            BMW         48.821s
 4. Tom Chilton       Arena                Ford        48.829s
 5. Matt Neal         Honda                Honda       48.930s
 6. Rob Collard       WSR                  BMW         48.963s
 7. Alex MacDowall    Chevrolet            Chevrolet   49.109s
 8. Tom Onslow-Cole   Arena                Ford        49.144s
 9. Paul O'Neill      Tech-Speed           Honda       49.193s
10. Andrew Jordan     Eurotech             Vauxhall    49.273s
11. Mat Jackson       Motorbase            BMW         49.357s
12. David Pinkney     Pinkney              Vauxhall    49.392s
13. Andy Neate        WSR                  BMW         49.462s
14. Matt Hamilton     TH                   Honda       49.639s
15. John George       Tech-Speed           Honda       49.935s
16. Tom Boardman      Special Tuning UK    SEAT        49.949s
17. Martin Johnson    Boulevard            Vauxhall    50.085s
18. Lea Wood          Wood                 Honda       50.234s
19. Arthur Forster    Forster              BMW         51.820s