Jason Plato: “It’s nice to be in the mix”

Jason Plato admitted it felt nice to be “in the mix” after qualifying on the front row of the grid for his debut with the Power Maxed Racing team at Brands Hatch.

Plato, back in a Vauxhall for the first time since winning his first BTCC title back in 2001, showed solid pace in free practice at the wheel of his Astra and ended up inside the top six in the second session of the weekend.

The arrival of rain ahead of qualifying provided a new challenge for the double champion as he hit the track in the wet for the first time in the car, but a solid performance on track saw him end up second to former team-mate Ash Sutton on the times.

“The car felt really good in the wet,” he said. “The balance was nice and whilst there are improvements to come, it’s good for us all as a team to be up near the front.

“The conditions helped as in the dry in FP1, the car wasn’t there and we made some pretty big changes for FP2. We planned to continue with those changes into qualifying as I don’t think we have the ultimate pace in the dry. I think we’d have been aiming to be within two to three tenths of pole if it hadn’t been wet; that certainly worked in our favour.”

This weekend marks Plato’s return to front-wheel drive for the first time since 2015 and he admitted there were still a few small errors to dial out as he gets fully up to speed with the Vauxhall.

“There are a few things we need to work on, and I’m still making a few errors in terms of how I react to things the car is doing,” he said. “However, the important thing is that I have full trust in the team and what they are doing, and we are all working well together. I know a lot of the guys from Triple Eight and the trust I have in them is absolutely key to what we are doing. It’s just what I need, and is one of the main reasons why I signed with the team.”