Jason Plato and Seat enjoyed a their most succesful meeting of the BTCC to date at Snetterton as the team stormed to two 1-2 finishes in the opening two races, with James Thompson following close behind Plato both times. Series leader Matt Neal also managed to extend his championship lead over Colin Turkington slightly by winning the day’s final race, although he came close to winning the second race but for an incident with Plato on the final corner of the final lap.Despite not necessarily having the fastest car for the 1.952 mile ultra-fast Norfol circuit, Seat began the weekend in the perfect style as the team took first and second positions on the grid in qualifying. Both cars of Plato and Thompson had been fast in practice beforehand, and after taking the top spots for qualifying the team was looking very strong indeed. Plato was feeling exceptionally confident with the car - “I knew after free practice that we had a good race car this weekend and qualifying first and second gives us the best opportunity to win some races tomorrow. The Leon’s performing exceptionally well this weekend and I’m really confident.”
Top man in the championship Matt Neal managed to qualify in 5th position despite carrying maximum ballast - alongside his main championship rival Colin Turkington in 6th. Of his performance, Turkington commented “I’m confident that I can have a good race tomorrow and still in with a good chance of a podium.” His prediction would not prove to be entirely wrong.
Over at Vauxhall, the top qualifier was Fabrizio Giovanardi who, despite not having ever competed at Snetterton before, was enjoying the fast nature of the track as he qualified 3rd on the grid. His team-mates Gavin Smith and Tom Chilton fared less well, lining up 7th and 8th on the grid respectively.
Race 1 began on a drying track after an early morning downpour left conditions a little unknown. The majority of the front-running teams opted for slicks at the front, followed by grooved wets at the rear, and this proved the best choice. Several runners, Rob Collard, Gareth Howell and Jason Hughes included opted to start on all wets, but after completing the formation laps peeled into the pits to change to slicks.
After the lights went out, Plato got a good start to retain his lead from pole, but his team-mate Thompson lost out to the fast starting Giovanardi, who slipped into second at Riches.
Click here for Round 19 Results
Click here for Round 20 Results
Click here for Round 21 Results
Be First To Comment
Related Post
Leave Your Comments Below