Plato on top in first practice

Date published : 06 Aug 2011 - 09:32:29

Reigning British Touring Car champion Jason Plato topped the first free practice session on the Snetterton 300 circuit this morning.The works Chevrolet Cruze driver was the first driver to break the two-minute barrier on the BTCC's first visit to the new Snetterton layout.Plato's time of 1m59.797s remained the best, despite charges from Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic) and James Nash (Triple 8 Vauxhall Vectra), both of whom joined him under the two-minute mark.Shedden's Honda team-mate Matt Neal put in a late effort to go fourth, pipping Tom Chilton's Arena Motorsport Ford Focus and the Eurotech/Pirtek Vectra of Andrew Jordan.Alex MacDowall (works RML-run Chevy) and Paul O'Neill (Tech-Speed Chevy) made it three normally aspirated cars in the top 10, while Dave Newsham was eighth in one of Special Tuning Racing's turbo SEAT Leons.Martin Byford was 12th fastest on his first official session with AmD Milltek's VW Golf.The brand new Proton Gen-2 of Welch Automotive made it out on track for the first time. Daniel Welch completed five laps, finishing 25 of the 26 runners with a time a little over six seconds slower than Plato's best.Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jason Plato Chevrolet 1m59.797s 2. Gordon Shedden Honda 1m59.923s + 0.126s 3. James Nash Triple 8 Vauxhall 1m59.954s + 0.157s 4. Matt Neal Honda 2m00.511s + 0.714s 5. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 2m00.615s + 0.818s 6. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Vauxhall 2m00.691s + 0.894s 7. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet 2m00.778s + 0.981s 8. Dave Newsham Special Tuning SEAT 2m00.791s + 0.994s 9. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 2m00.926s + 1.129s10. Paul O'Neill Tech-Speed Chevrolet 2m00.972s + 1.175s11. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 2m01.101s + 1.304s12. Martyn Byford AmD Milltek Volkswagen 2m01.119s + 1.322s13. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 2m01.354s + 1.557s14. Rob Collard WSR BMW 2m01.571s + 1.774s15. Rob Austin Austin Audi 2m01.764s + 1.967s16. Jeff Smith Eurotech Vauxhall 2m01.887s + 2.090s17. Tom Onslow-Cole Arena Ford 2m01.911s + 2.114s18. Nick Foster WSR BMW 2m02.493s + 2.696s19. Tony Gilham Triple 8 Vauxhall 2m02.586s + 2.789s20. Andy Neate Arena Ford 2m03.189s + 3.392s21. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford 2m03.542s + 3.745s22. John George Tech-Speed Chevrolet 2m04.824s + 5.027s23. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota 2m04.855s + 5.058s24. Lea Wood Wood Honda 2m05.387s + 5.590s25. Daniel Welch Welch Proton 2m06.104s + 6.307s26. Chris James ES Chevrolet 2m06.626s + 6.829s