Jason Plato and Colin Turkington left sharing differing views on Croft clash

Jason Plato and Colin Turkington left Croft this past weekend with differing views on the contact that occurred between them in round 14 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, admitting they will never agree on the incident.

Following on from what was a commanding display in the opening encounter as Turkington led Plato to a Subaru one-two, the Team BMR duo continued to show their apparent dominance in race two as they began to pull away from the chasing pack.

Reclaiming the lead back from Plato after losing it at the start, Turkington led the field till the halfway point before the double champion team mates came together. Approaching Tower Bend on the eighth tour of the 2.1 mile circuit, contact was made as Plato made his move for the lead down the inside of the Northern Irishman.

The resulting contact brought with it a slight delay and handed Rob Collard the opportunity to leapfrog both Levorg’s and go on to clinch his second win of the season, with Plato and Turkington rounding out the podium. Despite walking away with silverware, both drivers ultimately agreed to disagree on the matter – both sharing different views on the clash.

“Obviously it is disappointing because a Subaru 1-2 was on the cards there,” said Plato to BTCC Crazy. “There was clearly a misunderstanding in that Colin didn’t expect me to make the move like I did. The thing is if you are going to leave a gap you should know that I’m going to be coming through. He left the door open and then when I was literally side-by-side he opted to turn in

“I’d loaded the gun and pulled the trigger. I couldn’t just say ‘maybe not’ and pull out of the move, and in that situation, the driver on the outside has a choice to give space or not. It is disappointing but I think more importantly it wasn’t one of those incidents where we both didn’t finish – in the end we came away on the podium although it does sting a little knowing the win was there.”

Two-time 2016 race winner Turkington shared a different view on the incident: “It was disappointing to lose what was a possible one-two finish. It isn’t something you ever expect to happen between team mates because the first rule of racing is usually to never make contact with your team mate. I don’t feel the gap was there for the move but Jason thinks otherwise and it is one of those that we will never agree on.”

Since joining forces at Team BMR in 2015, last weekend’s clash was the first the pairing have had on-track running under the same team and Plato believes it will put the manufacturer-backed outfit in good shape for the remainder of the year.

He explained: “Aside from the disappointment we now know where we both stand in terms of racing each other. The expectations of both of us when racing wheel-to-wheel is clear to see now and the team spoke to us both straight after the race and laid down the law.”

Claiming a total of four podiums between them, Plato and Turkington now sit on the cusp of the top ten as the series heads into the annual summer break before resuming at Snetterton.