Plato tops BTCC second practice

The 40-year-old former champion went quickest in 1:24.712 with 10 minutes of the session left - a time that was two tenths of a second under the pole position mark of Fabrizio Giovanardi last year.

The Leon TDIs of Plato and Darren Turner were the only cars to reach 100mph over the start/finish line, showing that the straightline speed advantage afforded by their diesel powerplants will make them extremely competitive this weekend.

Colin Turkington's second place, only 0.052 seconds of the pace in his Team RAC BMW, was a good achievement as the Ulsterman had spent the opening 10 minutes of the session in the pits as his car was worked on.

In a totally dry session Tom Onslow-Cole was Vauxhall's best performer in fourth place, while Matt Neal followed him closely.

Tom Chilton's Team Halfords Honda and Steven Kane's Motorbase BMW were next up, although the latter twice went straight on at the Deene hairpin and continued around the oval part of the circuit before re-joining the track.

Gordon Shedden, who set the pace in the first session, was only eighth quickest in his Halfords Honda while Mat Jackson and Mike Jordan completed the top 10.

Reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi was only 12th fastest in his Vauxhall - exactly one second off the pace.

Alan Taylor managed seven laps in his Robertshaw Honda after suffering gear selection problems in the opening session.

Martyn Bell only managed one lap in his Arkas Vauxhall, though and Adam Jones pulled his Team Air-Cool SEAT off the track exiting the Tarzan hairpin mid-way through the session too with an apparent technical problem.

Pos Driver                  Car              Gap
 1. Jason Plato             SEAT        1:24.712
 2. Colin Turkington        BMW           +0.052
 3. Darren Turner           SEAT          +0.073
 4. Tom Onslow-Cole         Vauxhall      +0.235
 5. Matt Neal               Vauxhall      +0.255
 6. Tom Chilton             Honda         +0.398
 7. Steven Kane             BMW           +0.432
 8. Gordon Shedden          Honda         +0.455
 9. Mat Jackson             BMW           +0.459
10. Mike Jordan             Honda         +0.676
11. Stephen Jelley          BMW           +0.871
12. Fabrizio Giovanardi     Vauxhall      +1.000
13. Matt Allison            Chevrolet     +1.214
14. Andrew Jordan           Honda         +1.251
15. Harry Vaulkhard         Chevrolet     +1.555
16. Adam Jones              SEAT          +1.638
17. Jason Hughes            MG            +1.767
18. Rob Collard             BMW           +1.930
19. John George             Honda         +2.067
20. Erkut Kizilirmak        Vauxhall      +2.469
21. Chris Stockton          Lexus         +2.507
22. Alan Taylor             Honda         +3.506
23. Michael Doyle           Honda         +3.995
24. Stuart Oliver           Lexus         +4.972
25. Martyn Bell             Vauxhall      +9.665