500 not out for Jason Platoposted in BTCC13 | 08 | 2016
JASON PLATO, THE most successful driver in the history of the British Touring Car Championship with 94 race wins, will reach another notable milestone at Knockhill this weekend. When he starts race one on Sunday, it will be Plato’s 500th race.
“I’m sure it’s something I’ll look back on fondly at the end of my career, but for now I’m focussed on the job at hand,” Plato, fastest in this morning’s opening free practice, said. “I’m more interested in the number of wins I’ve had than the number of races, to be honest.”
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Winning remains a big talking point this season, as double touring car champ Plato still searches for his maiden success with Silverline Subaru BMR Racing, although it’s more paddock chat rather than something the man himself is too concerned about.
Plato is signed to a multi-year deal with the Japanese marque and is playing the long game, whilst acclimatising himself to rear-wheel-drive machinery for the first time in his BTCC career.
“I feel like it’s close, but we’re not losing too much sleep over it,” the Oxford racer said “Things just haven’t quite gone my way so far this year.”
With a career spanning nearly two decades, the ups and downs of motor sport are merely part of the job, but it’s fair to say his 500 races have provided some of the best and most memorable performances ever seen in the BTCC.
The good times have outweighed the bad by quite some margin, and you wouldn’t put it past him adding to his victory tally at Knockhill tomorrow.
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Jim McGill