Jason Plato
2008 BTCC driver
Nationality
Nickname	-
Car #	11
Team	SEAT Sport UK
Car	SEAT León
Championships	1
Wins	35
Podium finishes	90
Poles	22
Fastest laps	35
Debut season	1997
Best championship result	1st (2001)
2006 position	2nd (241 points)

Jason Plato (born 14 October 1968 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. The 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season is the 51st British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... SEAT (IPA: ) is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded in 1950 and now subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. ... The SEAT León (pronounced Leh-On) is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. ... 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. ... The 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season will be the 49th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Juuso Pykälistö driving a Peugeot 206 World Rally Car at the 2003 Swedish rally Racing cars redirects here. ... Monte Carlo is a very wealthy section of the city-state of Monaco known for its casino, gambling, beaches, glamour, and sightings of famous people. ... The British Touring Car Championship is a series of races for saloon cars which is held each year in the United Kingdom. ...

Early years

Plato was educated at The King's School, Tynemouth. 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. Kings school is a school in Tynemouth with over 800 pupils. ... A kart racer takes a turn on an indoor track Kart racing (as the word is so spelled by enthusiasts) 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. ... Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or, in abbreviated form, F3, is a type of formula racing and a class of open-wheeler motor racing. ... Formula Renault Cars at Donnington Park (2005) Formula Renault is a class of formula racing founded in 1971[1]. It is popular in Europe and other countries. ... The Renault Sport Spider is a roadster produced by the French automaker Renault Sport (a subsidiary of Renault) between 1995 and 1997. ... Not to be confused with Frank Williams Racing Cars, formed by Frank Williams 1967. ... For the author, see Mary Renault. ... The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ...

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. Switzerlands Alain Menu was one of the most successful Touring Car drivers of the 90s, and has continued to race well into the 2000s. ... Yvan Muller (born August 16, 1969) is a French auto racing driver. ...

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. Jeff Burton (99), Elliott Sadler (38), Ricky Rudd (21), Dale Jarrett (88), Sterling Marlin (40), Jimmie Johnson (48), and Casey Mears (41) practice for the 2004 Daytona 500 The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... Stock Car Speed Association (SCSA) is a stock car racing series that races at Rockingham Motor Speedway in England. ... This article is about the sport of stock car racing. ...

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. SEAT (IPA: ) is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded in 1950 and now subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. ... Matt Neal (born December 20, 1966 in Birmingham) is a British motor racing driver. ... 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 squad in the British Touring Car Championship, including winning the Overall Drivers title in 2005... This article is about the Japanese motor corporation. ... Yvan Muller (born August 16, 1969) is a French auto racing driver. ... For information about the football team see Vauxhall Motors F.C. Vauxhall Motors is a UK car company. ...

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. The 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season will be the 49th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. ... The SEAT León (pronounced Leh-On) is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. ... James Thompson (born April 26, 1974) is a British auto racing driver from York. ... The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe. ... Darren Turner is an auto racing driver from Reading, Berkshire, England, born on April 13, 1974. ... Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit in North Yorkshire, England. ... Matt Neal (born December 20, 1966 in Birmingham) is a British motor racing driver. ... Map sources for Silverstone at grid reference SP670440 Silverstone is a medium sized village in Northamptonshire, England. ... Colin Turkington is an auto racing driver from Newry in Northern Ireland, born on 21st March 1982. ...

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 winning by 3 points, after Plato's fierce rival Matt Neal favoured Giovanardi by letting him through and blocking Plato. Fabrizio Giovanardi (born December 14, 1966) is a racecar driver. ... For other uses, see Vauxhall (disambiguation). ... Knockhill racing circuit, Fife Knockhill Racing circuit in Fife is Scotlands national Motorsport centre. ... Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, United Kingdom, owned by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd. ... Jordans Eurotech Honda Integra livery for 2006 Mike Jordan is a British racing driver from Sutton Coldfield, born on February 17, 1958. ... Matt Neal (born December 20, 1966 in Birmingham) is a British motor racing driver. ...

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. Channel 5, as a television channel, may refer to: Channel 5 of MediaCorp TV, Singapore; UK television broadcaster Five, which was formerly known as Channel 5; Canale 5 in Italy This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... This article is about the TV series. ... Timothy Tiff Needell (born October 29, 1951 at Havant, Hampshire) is a British racing driver and television presenter. ... Vicki Butler-Henderson (born February 16, 1972, in Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom) is a racing driver and presenter on British TV. She was educated at The Perse School for Girls in Cambridge. ... This article is about the British television station. ... The title of this article should be driven. ... Mike Brewer (born 1968 in Surrey) is a former car trader turned television presenter of motoring television programmes These have included Driven on Channel 4, Deals on Wheels, Pulling Power, Wheeler Dealers and recently Auto Trader with co-presenter, Ed China. ... Penny Mallory was the first woman in the world to qualify to drive a World Rally car. ... V8 Supercars in action V8 Supercar is the main motor racing series in Australia. ... For other persons named Peter Brock, see Peter Brock (disambiguation). ...

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. The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Mission Implausible is a television series on Sky One featuring Jason Plato and Tania Zaetta. ... Tania Zaetta (born November 17, 1970) is an Australian television personality. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Plato's current personal car collection includes a Porsche 911 Turbo with the registration plate P1ATO , BMW Z4 and SEAT León Cupra R
• Plato was injured in a Caparo T1 supercar in October 2007 during filming for Fifth Gear at Bruntingthorpe proving ground. The car caught fire at an estimated 150 MPH and Plato described his injuries as follows:

  “The back of my neck is burnt and so are my face and hands. I obviously couldn’t take my hands off the steering wheel whilst braking and my right hand is more badly burnt than my left." Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... The Porsche 930 is the original Porsche 911 Turbo produced from 1975 to 1989. ... The BMW Z4 is a rear-wheel drive sports car by the German automaker BMW, known as the E85 in roadster form and E86 in coupe form. ... The SEAT León (pronounced Leh-On) is a small family car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1999. ... The Caparo T1 is a British mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seater car built by Caparo Vehicle Technologies, (formally known as Freestream), founded by design director Ben Scott-Geddes and engineering director Graham Halstead, former engineers involved in the development of the McLaren F1. ... The Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Proving Ground is a privately-owned airport in Leicestershire near the village of Bruntingthorpe. ...

  He was taken from the scene by former BTCC driver Phil Bennett and after treatment at three hospitals, including Stoke Mandeville Hospital's specialist burns unit, Plato was able to compete in the following weekend's final race in the 2007 BTCC calendar.[1]

Phil Bennett is an auto racing driver, born October 6, 1971. ... Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. ...

References

• "Plato injured in Caparo filming", "BTCC.net", October 10, 2007. Accessed October 10, 2007

is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

External links

• Profile at BTCC.net
• Profile from btccinfo.co.uk
• btcc:action profile for Jason Plato
• Corporate SEAT Sport site
• Sky One website for Mission Implausible