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Information about Jason Plato

Jason Plato

2007 BTCC driver
Nationality
Nickname-
Car #11
TeamSEAT Sport UK
CarSEAT León
Championships1
Wins35
Podium finishes90
Poles22
Fastest laps35
Debut season1997
Best championship result1st (2001)
2006 position2nd (241 points)
[ edit]


Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967 in Oxford, England) is a British auto racing driver, currently living in Monte Carlo. He was 2001 BTCC champion, and has finished top 5 in the championship 8 times.

Early years

After success in karting he raced in Formula Three and Formula Renault. In 1996 he entered the Renault Spider championship, and a dominant title win saw him earn the second drive in the Williams-Renault BTCC team for 1997.

BTCC part 1

He made a sensational start in the Laguna, taking pole for his first 3 races, and ultimately winning 2 races as a rookie, taking 3rd in the championship won by team-mate Alain Menu. He was 5th in the series in each of the next 3 years, having joined Vauxhall in 2000. For 2001 the series had a new set of reduced-cost rules, less big-name drivers as a result, and Vauxhall had by far the best car. In a contentious and hard-fought season, Plato won the championship after team-mate Yvan Muller's car set alight at the last round.

NASCAR and elsewhere

With an ambition to get into NASCAR racing, Plato moved to the British ASCAR stock car scene in 2002, finishing 3rd in the championship.

In 2003 he was a driver coach for SEAT, this was the link which led to him returning with the Spanish team in 2004.

BTCC part 2

He was employed by SEAT to help with their driver development in 2003, and when they entered a BTCC team in 2004, he was the natural choice to lead the team. He was third in the championship that year, winning more races than anyone else, although the team used the reverse-grid regulations to their advantage. The driver finishing 10th in the first of the meeting's 3 races had pole (and a light car) for race 2, and the winner of race 2 had pole for race 3 (although with a now-heavier car), so Plato frequently dropped back to 10th in race one, often going on to win races 2 and 3. As a result of this, the championship rules were changed to reversing the top 10 of the race 3 grid, somewhat scuppering this tactic, and the pace of Matt Neal's Team Dynamics Honda and Yvan Muller's Vauxhall left him unable to challenge for a second title. In 2005 he finished 4th in the Championship with three wins to his credit.

For 2006, Plato continues in the British Touring Car Championship as lead driver for SEAT and their new León touring car. He was the only driver in the three-driver team to compete in all 10 meetings - his team-mates, two times BTCC champion James Thompson and ex-DTM driver Darren Turner, shared the team's second Leon. After the first 3 meetings he was a point behind Thompson in 3rd in the championship, and two retirements in the races at Thruxton did not help his cause. After winning race 1 at Croft, race 2 was his 200th start, and it was nearly a glorious one, before Matt Neal passed him with 2 laps to go. He won 2 out of the 3 races at Brands Hatch to keep his faint hopes of winning the BTCC in 2006 alive, but a poor qualifying run at Silverstone finally ended his hopes. He did pip Colin Turkington to 2nd in the championship, meaning that he has now finished in each of the top 5 championship positions.

Winning the first two races of 2007 set the tone for a title battle with Fabrizio Giovanardi's Vauxhall. Gio took the series lead at Knockhill but Plato retook it at Donington Park, after fighting from 9th on the grid to come 5th in race one and then win race 2. He started race 3 from 9th (after spinning this position on the grid-reversal wheel) but fought through to take the lead from Mike Jordan, with some uncertainty over whether he had passed under yellow. To ensure that he was not penalised he allowed Jordan to repass him, before retaking the lead a lap later. The battle went to the final round, with Giovanardi winnning by 3 points, after Plato's fierce rival Matt Neal favoured Giovanardi by letting him through and blocking Plato.

Other Commitments

Plato can also be seen presenting the Channel 5 British TV series Fifth Gear co-starring with Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson. He has previously co-presented Channel 4's motoring program 'driven' alongside Mike Brewer and Penny Mallory. He has also competed in the world's toughest touring car races, the Bathurst 1000 and Sandown 500, numerous times but without any great success. His last attempt at Bathurst was with the Holden Racing Team and was driving with the late great Peter Brock. Plato and Brock's race ended with Plato causing a crash resulting in John Cleland's car to roll onto its roof.

Plato also presented the popular Sky One television program Mission Implausible where he and Tania Zaetta compete to perform three stunts over the course of each episode.

Trivia

References

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Thomas Erdos		British Formula Renault
UK series champion
1991		Succeeded by
Pedro de la Rosa
Preceded by
Alain Menu		British Touring Car Champion
2001		Succeeded by
James Thompson


 •  • [ e]
BTCC 2007
DriversChilton • Giovanardi • Neal • Shedden • Plato • Turner • Turkington • Onslow-Cole • Howell • Allison • George • Kizilirmak • Jackson • Jordan • Leason • Bell • Blanckley • Pinkney • Marsh • Stockton • Kerry • Pocklington • Hughes • Smith • Leggate • Ferrier
TeamsVXRacing • Team Dynamics • SEAT Sport UK • Team RAC • Motorbase Performance • Arkas • Jacksons • Encke • Eurotech • Daniels • Geoff Steel Racing • Sibsport • A-Tech • BTC Racing • TH Motorsport • AFM Racing • J-Team
CircuitsBrands Hatch • Rockingham • Thruxton • Croft • Oulton Park • Donington Park • Snetterton • Knockhill
2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 50th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was won by Fabrizio Giovanardi with 10 race wins and 17 podiums.
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Seat can refer to:

A place to sit, particularly the area one sits upon (rather than other elements, like armrests), See:
  • Chair
  • Car seat
  • Airline seat
  • Saddle, a type of seat used on the backs of animals, bicycles (see bicycle seat), etc.

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SEAT León (IPA: [liːˈɒn], "lee-on") is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1999.
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The 2001 theAA.com British Touring Car Championship season was the 44th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season and marked the beginning of a new era of lower-cost rules and regulations for the series.
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The 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 49th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. As in 2005, there were ten racing weekends at nine different circuits; each round comprising three races, making a thirty round competition in total.
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October 14 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1964 1965 1966 - 1967 - 1968 1969 1970

Year 1967 (MCMLXVII
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Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). It is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
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Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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Automobile racing (also known as auto racing, motor racing, or car racing) is a sport involving racing automobiles. Auto racing began in 1895,[1] and is now one of the world's most popular sports.
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Monte Carlo (Occitan: Montcarles, Monégasque: Monte-Carlu) is the wealthiest of Monaco's various administrative areas,[1] sometimes erroneously believed to be the country's capital, even though there formally is none.
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Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheeler motor sport with simple, small four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits.
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Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers.
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Formula Renault is a class of formula racing founded in 1971[1]. It is popular in Europe and other countries. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it is a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to Formula Three, GP2, or
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Renault Sport Spider is a roadster produced by the French automaker Renault Sport (a subsidiary of Renault) between 1995 and 1997.

Project

The idea for the Renault Spider was formulated in the early 1990s: in the midst of a revival after a difficult second half of the
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WilliamsF1, the trading name of Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd., is a Formula One (F1) motor racing team and constructor. The team won nine Constructor's titles between 1980 and 1997.
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Renault

Public (Euronext: RNO )
Founded February 25 1899
Headquarters Boulogne-Billancourt, France

Key people Carlos Ghosn, President & CEO
Industry Automotive
Products Automobiles
Trucks and buses
Revenue €41.528 billion (2006) -0.
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Category Touring cars
Country or region International
Inaugural season
Drivers 26 (2007)
Teams 18 (2007)
Constructors 7 (2007)
Drivers' champion Fabrizio Giovanardi
Teams' champion SEAT Sport UK

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Alain Menu (born August 9, 1963 in Geneva) is a Swiss racing driver. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice (the only driver during the series' 1991-2000 Super Touring era to do so).
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Yvan Muller (born August 16 1969) is a French auto racing driver.

Biography

Muller was born in Altkirch (Alsace).

Early career

After competing in the French Formula Renault and French Formula Three, he won the British Formula Two championship title in 1992
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Sport governing body

Category Stock cars
Area of jurisdiction Canada,United States,Mexico
Formation date 1948
Headquarters Daytona Beach, Florida
Charlotte, North Carolina
New York City, New York

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Category Stock car
Country or region United Kingdom
Inaugural season
Drivers 12 (2007)
Teams 6 (2007)
Constructors Chevrolet, Ford, Pontiac
Drivers' champion Oli Playle
Official website Mac Tools V8 Trophy
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Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States and Great Britain held largely on oval rings of between approximately a quarter-mile and 2.66 miles (about 0.4 to 4.2 kilometres) in length, but also raced occasionally on road courses.
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Seat can refer to:

A place to sit, particularly the area one sits upon (rather than other elements, like armrests), See:
  • Chair
  • Car seat
  • Airline seat
  • Saddle, a type of seat used on the backs of animals, bicycles (see bicycle seat), etc.

..... Click the link for more information.
Matt Neal (born December 20, 1966 in Birmingham) is a British motor racing driver. He won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005 and 2006. He has also won an ETCC race. He is 6'6" tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters.
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Did you mean group dynamics?
Team Dynamics (currently racing under the guise of Team Halfords in deference to their title sponsor) is a UK-based motor-racing team based in Pershore (Worcestershire), best known for their successes as an independent
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The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter.
It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view.
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Yvan Muller (born August 16 1969) is a French auto racing driver.

Biography

Muller was born in Altkirch (Alsace).

Early career

After competing in the French Formula Renault and French Formula Three, he won the British Formula Two championship title in 1992
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Vauxhall Motors Limited

Private (subsidiary of General Motors since 1925)
Founded 1903
Headquarters Luton, England, United Kingdom

Key people Bill Parfitt (MD)
Industry Automotive
Products Automobile
Revenue £3,785 million (2004)[1]
..... Click the link for more information.
The 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 49th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. As in 2005, there were ten racing weekends at nine different circuits; each round comprising three races, making a thirty round competition in total.
..... Click the link for more information.


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