Despite clashing with team-mate Colin Turkington whilst fighting for the lead in the second British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Croft, double champion Jason Plato believes the incident will serve Silverline Subaru BMR Racing well in future.
Plato attempted a move on the inside of Turkington heading into Tower at half distance during the second contest, with the Ulsterman moving across towards the apex the two Subaru Levorg GT’s made contact.
In doing so the BMW 125i M-Sports of Jack Goff and Rob Collard were able to rapidly catch up the pair; Goff failed to gain an advantage after braking to avoid a collision, but Collard was able to pass Plato on the inside to take the lead as Plato briefly pre-occupied himself with re-aligning Turkington’s car in the right direction.
Speaking to TouringCars.net after the final race at the 2.13 mile Yorkshire circuit, Plato conceded that whilst there had been some internal discussion on the matter, he believes that ultimately the clash will serve a purpose in the future.
“We’ve had a little hiccup today, internally” he explained “but some good will come of that. A genuine misunderstanding. Colin [Turkington] didn’t think a team mate should have overtaken him.”
When quizzed if he felt he was entitled to go for the move on the inside, the 94-time race winner in the BTCC was assertive in his point of view.
“F**king right, the doors wide open!”
“If you leave the door open, and your team-mate comes in, he’s committed. As the person that has gone for the move, I’m committed. No more options. I can’t go ‘I don’t like the way this is panning out, I’ll just chuck an anchor out of the back’. It doesn’t work that way. ”
“The rules of engagement always are: if your team-mate gets alongside you – concede. The guy on the outside has the option. And I’ll concede and lose the corner, or I’ll turn in and cause an incident, whereas the guy on the inside who’s made the move has no options. And that’s what team-mates do for eachother.”
Plato also clarified that the second contact on Turkington’s car following the incident had been intentional to ensure his team-mate was pointing in the right direction once again, although admitted in hindsight it cost him the race win.
“Absolutely, I punted him straight, which ironically cost me the win. Because Collard then shot up the inside. So I punched him straight.” he explained.