Plato wins but Muller disqualified

honours in the race.
Jason Plato won the 30-lap Auto Trader British Touring
Car Championship Feature race at Silverstone in his Renault Laguna, and his
team-mate, Jean-Christophe Boullion, came home third.

Yvan Muller finished second in his Vauxhall Vectra, his first podium for
his new team. However, his celebrations didn't last long - following the
race, his car failed the ride-height check, and he was excluded from the
results, lifting Boullion to second and handing third to James Thompson, in
the Honda Accord.

A shower of rain fell at the worst possible time, with the cars waiting to
set off on their warm-up laps - and it was impossible to tell whether
things would get worse.

Thompson opted to start with intermediates fitted
to his Honda, while David Leslie (Nissan Primera), Anthony Reid (Ford
Mondeo) and Independent Matt Neal (Nissan Primera) headed for the pit lane
as the grid formed, gambling that changing tyres would more than make up
for starting at the back.

Pole man Laurent Aiello made a good start in his Nissan Primera, but Plato
made a storming start from fourth, making the most of a duel between
Aiello and the Volvo S40 of Rickard Rydell to force his way too the front
into Becketts on the first lap. Alain Menu, in his Ford, also found a way
past Rydell on the opening lap.

Plato gradually eased away, stretching his lead to 5.6s by lap 11 - but by
then, the drivers who had elected to fit intermediates were regretting it
as the rain eased. All the drivers on inters headed for the pits almost as
soon as the window for the compulsory stop had opened.

At the front, Menu and Rydell went past Aiello as his soft-compound slicks
didn't work properly on the damp track - but Menu was soon out of the race
with a loss of drive.

The lead cars stayed out until laps 17 and before
they headed for the pits - but it made no difference, with Plato
maintaining his lead after his stop.

But shortly after came the only challenge, when Rydell tried to go down the
outside into Abbey; Plato, on new tyres, slid a little wide, as he had on
the previous lap, the two made contact, and Rydell was out on the spot,
with damaged steering. From there, Plato simply cruised to the chequered
flag.

Rydell's departure lifted Muller into second, while Boullion was on a
charge, coming back from sixth to overtake thhe Honda of Peter Kox for
third with eight laps left. And that was that, from there to the flag - at
least, until the scrutineers had their say.

In the Michelin Cup for Independents, Paula Cook took the win in her Honda
Accord, although she was helped by Matt Neal suffering a loss of power just
after he had overtaken her for the Independent lead.

Neal had an eventful
race, starting from the pit lane and then picking up a drive-through
penalty for speeding in the pit-lane when he changed tyres. Lee Brookes
brought his Honda home second, although a lap down on the leaders, and Mark
Blair's Vauxhall Vectra was another lap down.

Ps.Ql.No. Driver/Nat Ind Car Laps Notes

-- -- ---- ------------------------------------------------ ----- -------

1 4 5 Jason Plato (GB) Renault Laguna 30

2 9 37 Jean-Christophe Boullion Renault Laguna 30 +9.3s

3 7 3 James Thompson (GB) Honda Accord 30 +13.3s

4 8 33 Peter Kox (NL) Honda Accord 30 +15.2s

5 1 23 Laurent Aiello (F) Nissan Primera GT 30 +25.0s

6 3 6 David Leslie (GB) Nissan Primera GT 30 +32.7s

7 13 8 John Cleland (GB) Vauxhall Vectra 30 +35.5s

8 11 2 Anthony Reid (GB) Ford Mondeo 30 +1:03.1

9 14 22 Paula Cook (GB) I Honda Accord LS 30 +1:11.2

10 15 99 Lee Brookes (GB) I Honda Accord 29 +1 lap

11 16 15 Mark Blair (GB) I Vauxhall Vectra 28 +2 laps

------------- NOT CLASSIFIED ----------------

6 11 Vincent Radermecker (B) Volvo S40 27 +3 laps

12 77 Matt Neal (GB) I Nissan Primera GT 25 +5 laps

2 1 Rickard Rydell (S) Volvo S40 19 +11 laps

17 17 Russell Spence (GB) I Renault Laguna 15 +15 laps

5 4 Alain Menu (CH) Ford Mondeo 12 +18 laps

10 7 Yvan Muller (F) Vauxhall Vectra 30 2nd/DSQ

Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy, showers - track damp, drying

Time of Race : 43:54.811s

Average Speed : 92.25 Mph

Fastest Lap : 23, Aiello - 1:24.052, 96.326 Mph / 155.02 Km/h

Track Length : 2.2490 Miles