Jason Plato: “Pole position was there for the taking”

Jason Plato admits pole position at Oulton Park was there for the taking for him had it not been for a radio call which ultimately cost him three tenths of a second.

The Team BMR driver looked to be on course to hitting the summit of the timesheets towards the end of the 30-minute shootout after setting the best first sector of anyone before then losing time in sector two.

Plato would later confirm that it was to be a radio call that took him by surprise mid-corner which ultimately saw him make a small mistake and lose his rhythm.

Reflecting on the session to BTCC Crazy, Plato said: “We should have taken pole, it was there for the taking which is a bit disappointing but sixth is still very good. I set a overall best in sector one and was really starting to hook everything together then my engineer Carl came over the radio as I went into the chicane and that threw me off because it was a surprise.

“He has never done that before and he is gutted it happened but it is one of those things and we won’t lose sleep over it. Theoretically we will get a good start tomorrow and I’m positive that we can make some real progress – I truly believe podiums and race wins are possible. Our race pace is very good and we look after the tyres well too so we will see what happens.

With team mate Colin Turkington taking pole position to create BTCC history, Plato was full of praise for his double champion team mate.

He added: “It is fantastic and a great reward for the whole team because they have worked their socks off to make sure we are in this position!”