Jason Plato
There’s been some absolutely brilliant racing on television today – but the best driving I’ve seen has come from a completely different type of motorsport. In my opinion, the single best demonstration of true skill behind the wheel came from none other than Jason Plato, in the third round of the British Touring Car Championship.
Plato was at Paddock Hill in first place (following the ‘grid reversal’ as per the rules going into the third session) when relative newcomer Jonathan Adam made a hard charge on the inside. This resulted in some (accidental) contact, pushing Plato in his new Chevrolet Lacetti sideways.
In fact, it turns out that this little stunt of travelling sideways was being conducted at around 90mph – a truly terrifying speed to be looking out of the side window at! Somehow, Jason demonstrated the spirit of driving when he managed not only to rectify the angle of the car with full lock, full power, but even managed to lose no further places following the incident.
Amazingly, Jason continued on to take a fully justified second place – even following a huge battle with Matt Neal in the final laps. Given I didn’t even know that Jason was driving (and it was actually a very late arrangement from what I understand), it made the racing even more spectacular. Jason, keep up that level of skill and you’ll be in contention for the title!
Did I mention that I’m a huge fan of Jason Plato? 🙂