Jason Plato underlined his commitment to aiding Adrian Flux Subaru Racing team-mate Ash Sutton’s British Touring Car Championship title challenge, stating his readiness to surrender anything other than a race victory to his cause.
Strong weekends at Croft, Snetterton and Knockhill, including four wins and a further three podiums, have moved Sutton to within two points of current championship leader Colin Turkington.
Plato scored his first win for a calendar year – and the 96th of his BTCC career – north of the Scottish border nearly a fortnight ago, and heading into the last three meetings is committed to bringing a maiden driver’s title to Team BMR – albeit in Sutton’s hands.
The double champion has endured a challenging season to date after a hefty crash at Brands Hatch in April caused extensive damage to the front of Plato’s Subaru Levorg GT, which has since resulted in a raft of issues, not least the cars handling.
A change to the differential from BMR at Knockhill paid dividends as the outfit finally found the root of the problem, unlocking the potential of both car and driver for the first time in 2017.
“I’m going to start enjoying myself,” admitted Plato.
“I think the 100 wins might be doable. I’m playing myself back into the game and I could have been a bit more robust with Ash but what would have been the point?
“He’s got stuff to crack on with. I’m not going to give up wins, because I’m not going to take a financial penalty. But anything other than a win – he can have it! That is the way it goes and I’d expect that in return.
“I will play it honestly and nothing would give me more pleasure than to see Ash crack it and if I can help, I will. I have Ash at the forefront of my mind, most definitely.”