Superb work from the RML mechanics was the highlight of a difficult weekend for Silverline Chevrolet at Donington Park.
After suffering a puncture in Race 1, Jason Plato was looking to work his way through the field in Race 2. However, he was involved in an opening lap tussle with Liam Griffin and Gordon Shedden that sent his Chevrolet Cruze flying across the grass before hitting a bank. This pitched the car into a roll, rolling three times before coming to a rest.
Plato escaped unscathed, but the RML crew had a huge task on their hand to get the car ready for the third and final race of the day in order to help Plato salvage something from the weekend. The mechanics helping with the repair included two who were just spectating at Donington on their day off who opted to lend a hand.
Team Manager Roy Underwood said: “We had to give it our best shot. We didn't think there was a hope of getting the car out at first, but somehow it all came together and we did it. I'm still not quite sure how – two hours to fully rebuild a car, most of it was broken.”
Plato added: “It was amazing, it looked an impossible task, the car looked like a transformer, but the lads were just amazing, you could see the passion in everybody. They're the best racing team in the world, forget F1. That was teamwork – I had tears in my eyes, they had tears in their eyes, and to see their commitment makes up for all the bad weekends we'll ever have. There was real emotion out there today.”
After the team got the car out onto the grid for Race 3, Plato drove it through from 21st on the grid to finish 6th. Teammate Alex MacDowall picked up three points finishes during the course of the weekend.
The RML near the end of the miraculous rebuild after Plato's race two roll
