Plato upbeat after strong qualifying
Jason Plato has targeted two wins at Oulton Park after taking pole position for this weekend's British Touring Car Championship round at the Cheshire circuit
The 2001 champion knocked his RML Chevrolet team-mate Mat Jackson off the top spot with a minute of the session remaining, to break James Thompson's five-year-old qualifying record at the track. And he identified a pair of victories, to add to the one he took at Brands Hatch earlier in the season, as his aim.
"This is where I need a big haul of points if I'm going to challenge for this championship," Plato said.
"The target is two wins and a top five in race three. All things being equal, if we have a bit of luck, we have two good starts, things should go well. I'll be able to overtake here as well, I'm sure."
Plato said that the formation of the two-by-two grid, with team-mate Jackson alongside him and Colin Turkington the only BMW within range for race one, ought to allow him to lead into the first corner.
"The grid's about the best I could hope for, because there's no way he's [Turkington] getting past me on the right [into the first corner]," he added.
"If he wants to get past me he'll have to go the long way past. And he'd be a brave man to try that."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Andy Priaulx set to leave DTM to switch to GT racing in 2014
Marc Marquez sets blistering pace in Valencia MotoGP test
Why the DTM doesn't need Britain anymore
Cook bemoans “heartbreaking” failures in BTCC Snetterton qualifying
Tim Jackson obituary: Long-time head of Renault UK motorsport dies aged 68
Why a BTCC legend remains defiant at '97 not out'
Peugeot surprised by severity of WEC Balance of Performance hit
Audi a player, not a spectator, in F1 driver market - Sauber
Mercedes joins Williams and RB with 'quick and cheap' F1 cockpit airflow upgrades
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China
How Ingram is seeking to reclaim the BTCC crown from Sutton
The tin-top world champion seeking to tick a "missing box" in the BTCC
How a BTCC Alliance swept the field away in 2023
How a top-down overhaul formed the basis of Sutton's 2023 BTCC dominance
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments