Jason Plato missed the start of race one, but bounced back with third in race two (Photo Credit: btcc.net)
MG KX Momentum Racing had a bumpy ride during Sunday's three rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park.
After promising free practice and qualifying times from Jason Plato and Andy Neate all wasn't so sweet when the MG6s lined up on the grid for the opening race on Sunday morning. Pole sitter Plato suffered a suspension problem on the out lap, robbing him of a chance of victorry. All was not lost, as Neate lined up in 12th, his strongest starting position of the season, to finish the race in seventh to score solid points.
Neate commented: “We’ve had strong pace this weekend, which means the technical issues we’ve suffered are doubly frustrating. Having moved forwards in Race One to a solid seventh, I was confident we could continue that upward trend. Unfortunately the technical failures haven’t allowed us to do so, but that’s racing.”
The tables turned in race two, as it was Neate who was suffering from bad luck, after a storming start, a technical failure forced the racer to retire. Plato had a monumental task ahead of him, starting from the back of the grid, he did what he does best; back of the grid to a place on the podium. With three laps to go, he caught third placed Dan Welch, and passed the Proton racer on the start/finish straight to secure his sixth podium of the season.
As Neate's technical issues continued into race three, Plato was again to provide results for the team. After starting in seventh in the safety car plagued race, Plato, Honda Yuasa Racing's Neal and Shedden and eBay Motors' Onslow-Cole progressed into a four-way battle for the lead in the closing laps. Plato battled through and finished in second bringing the team's podium tally up to seven.
A delighted Plato said: “It was obviously disappointing to not even start Race One and it’s hurt our weekend. To start from the back of the grid in Race Two and get a podium and then a second in Race Three means we don’t need to be too disheartened. It’s a long year and we’ve scored some good points, onwards to Croft!”
