Plato leads Cruze one-two in Race 1

Date published : 07 Aug 2011 - 12:04:03

Jason Plato led a works Chevrolet Cruze one-two in the first British Touring Car race on the Snetterton 300 circuit on Sunday.Plato and team-mate Alex MacDowall (from third) initially got away well, but the power of the Honda Civics and a great start by Matt Neal meant they were under pressure into Riches.Neal tried to go around the outside of Plato to take the lead, but contact between the two spun Neal round and sent him across the track in front of the pack. Everyone avoided the Civic, but Neal would only recover to 18th.At the front, Plato gradually edged away from MacDowall. Gordon Shedden's Civic, carrying 25kg of ballast, shadowed the second ballast-free Cruze throughout but never got close enough to try a move.After jumping James Nash's Triple 8 Vauxhall Vectra on the opening lap, Tom Chilton's Arena Motorsport Ford Focus held fourth early on. But he was soon under pressure from the impressive Frank Wrathall, having his best run yet in the Dynojet NGTC Toyota Avensis.Chilton eventually made a mistake at Riches, allowing Wrathall to slip by. He then drew away to secure a strong fourth and the Independents victory.Chilton slowed on the final lap, allowing Nash into fifth, while Mat Jackson (Motorbase Ford Focus) withstood intense pressure from Paul O'Neill's Tech-Speed Cruze to take sixth from 13th on the grid.Results - 11 lapsPos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jason Plato Chevrolet 24m12.064s 3. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet + 2.242s 3. Gordon Shedden Honda + 3.419s 4. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota + 10.113s 5. James Nash Triple 8 Vauxhall + 15.397s 6. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford + 18.928s 7. Paul O'Neill Tech-Speed Chevrolet + 19.196s 8. Tom Onslow-Cole Arena Ford + 24.102s 9. Tom Chilton Arena Ford + 26.035s10. Dave Newsham Special Tuning SEAT + 26.884s11. Jeff Smith Eurotech Vauxhall + 27.306s12. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Vauxhall + 32.633s13. Nick Foster WSR BMW + 33.330s14. Martyn Byford AmD Volkswagen + 33.816s15. Rob Austin Austin Audi + 40.162s16. Andy Neate Arena Ford + 44.389s17. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford + 46.453s18. Matt Neal Honda + 55.616s19. John George Tech-Speed Chevrolet + 56.625s20. Chris James ES Chevrolet + 1m13.714s21. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota + 1m16.042s22. Daniel Welch Welch Proton + 1m43.854s23. Rob Collard WSR BMW + 2 lapsRetirements Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 2 laps Lea Wood Central Honda 0 laps Tony Gilham Triple 8 Vauxhall 0 laps