**Thrilling Weekend at Rockingham**

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship returned to action at Rockingham Motor Speedway, and it was an event that would be remembered for a long time. The season racer, Jason Plato, secured his third Independence victory of the day, matching his best ever weekend points, and moving him to the top of the overall Championship standings.

The weekend got off to a thrilling start as Rob Collard made his presence felt with a stunning drive, carving his way through the field in each of the UL parts races. However, misfortune had up until that point prevented him from scoring a real result. But he was not denied in race three, as he stormed from 25th position to the top step of the podium, beating Turkington by just 41,000 for a stunning victory.

The Cook Ingram battle would eventually play into the hands of Plato, as Ingram was forced onto the grass while heading down to Lodge for the final time. This allowed Plato to run around the outside and steal the final place on the podium, despite being shuffled slightly down the order. Young G Ingram still managed to take his third Independence victory of the day, matching his best ever weekend points.

The win at Rockingham sees Plato top Neal by just one point in the overall Championship, with both drivers now pulling clear of the chasing pack headed by Shedon and Rob Collard. WSR leads the manufacturers' Constructors points, while Team JCT600 with Guardex tops the HighQ teams table.

**A Personal Reflection from Jason Plato**

When asked about his weekend, Jason Plato reflected on the excitement of the event. "It's been a real kick in the teeth for us actually. We weren't expecting that and it was a big decision to go with this engine setup. But we've done a lot of development work in rounds one and two, and needed to wait for this inlet manifold to make the engine breathe a bit better and utilize the boost. It's been a fantastic resolve from the team, and I'm proud of what they've achieved."

Plato also expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in the team's success, including Subaru, Warren Vicki, Silverline Adrian Flux Insurance, and Su. "They've put a lot of faith in my car and our hairbrained idea, and when we pitched it, they were like 'really, this could work'. Big thanks to everybody who's worked so hard – it's been an amazing weekend."

**Looking Ahead to Croft**

Plato will head to Croft next month, a circuit that holds a special place in his heart. "It's like a Northern track, isn't it? Where I was brought up in Newcastle and I'll see lots of old pals. It's the one event where I don't mind getting the phone calls because you know what it's like – we get phone calls at the Grand Prix, have you got any passes? But at Croft, it's always good to get the phone ringing with old pals supporting us."

Plato is looking forward to the challenge of racing on a rear-wheel drive track, which he believes will suit the Subaru. "We've still got some areas where we need to improve, but I'm really loving driving this car now. I've found my little groove with it and it feels like part of me. Can't wait for Croft – see you there!"

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhuge crowds descended on the beautiful chesher countryside to the sunand drench 2.26 mile Alon par circuit and we treated to another weekend of all action unpredictability in the dof MSA British Touring Car Championship Colin turkington had scored Silver Line Subaru BMR Racing's first Pole Position after the Alman set a stunning Pace during an exciting session at Al Park Eurotech racing new man Dan Lloyd press once more slotting his Honda Civic typar into a storming second on the grid it's always a festival like atmosphere at aumn and The Spectators packing the banks and Grand stands on Sunday were treated to a fever pitched afternoon of entertainment off the line in race one Sam toov leapt into second immediately passing Lloyd Honda as the cars made their way down to Old Hall turkington had also made a strong getaway from his Pole Position birth and was able to resist the attentions of toov team jct600 with guardex BMW in the early running keeping a half a second cushion in hand the double btcc Champion looked able to stretch his legs when pushed by the yor behind and duy he built a lead of a couple of seconds C Mid race the sist of BMW of Rob Collard meanwhile was in a spin down at the Heen leaving him down the order and Gordon shedon started to make his Mark with a pass on Lloyd at the same spot for third in the first of their squabbles of the day mg racing RCI insurance man Josh cook got the better have experienced hord's USA racing racer Matt Neil out of dearle making the move stick by turn one battles were igniting two throughout the Midfield as a gaggle gathered behind the handy Motorsport Toyota of Rob Austin the pace in the Subaru of Jason Plato became evident towards the halfway stage of the race as he set the fastest lap and passed Lloyd another move made to stick down at The Hairpin rookie Lloyd eventually finished six after Tom Ingram's Toyota pulled up alongside the Eurotech racing machine on the run to the finish line and went on to clinch fifth by just 139 of a second once Plato was past Lloyd the cork was out of the bottle and a classic btcc two and Thro battle ued between his laor and the orange Honda Civic typar of old adversary Gordon shedon with weight in the Honda shedon had to produce a master class in defensive driving after several fail attempts Pato finally made his way through after a valiant effort from the Scot with a better run up dear leap rear wheel driver no success ballast on board undoubtedly helping Jason Plato's cause Ash Sutton tumbled down the pack from sixth place on the same lap as part of an Ingram scrap and the other mg of Josh cook the latter took seventh behind Ingram and Lloyd whilst Aaron Smith and Matt Neil followed in eighth and L respectively Andrew Jordan's pertek racing forth Focus competed the top 10 out front turkington had things covered with toor off at arms length and the race was one in faultless style and historic first victory in the btcc for Subaru made even sweeter by Plato's presence on the podium Toof then made it nine winners in 11 rounds as the team jct600 with guard X-Man produced a stunning measured Drive in the day's second contest the BMW blasted off the line once again past PS to Colin turkington and from there he never looked back Barce had began in Fairly dramatic fashion with a series of incidents leading to a brief early safety car period Aaron Smith's Volkswagen ran wide at Cascades on the opening lap shortly before Rob Austin's Toyota made contact with Jake Hill at the island hairpin the knock on effect spear Hill into Matt Jackson's board Focus although the latter would go on to have a competitive race Rob Collard was surging his way up the order once more following the race one spin this time from 23rd on the grid the West s racing driver picked off car after car and was soon into the top 10 K then joined Josh cook and Matt Neil in a three-way tussle for six which would eventually end the BMW man's challenge the mg racing RCB Insurance driver was determined to keep the triple champion at Bay the pair went side by side making contact towards Cascades but both the Honda and mg continued with only minor cosmetic damage bad luck struck once again on the day for wsr's collard he saw off NE on lap 10 and made his way past Cooks mg two TS later no sooner had he seemingly secured the move however than the BMW 125i M sport ran wide on the exit of old Hall he returned to the Circuit immediately in front of cooker the two touched which broke the right rear suspension on card's machine he limped back to the pit Lane and fell down the order out front it couldn't have been more different for the sister wsr BMW of toor off a Serene controlled Victory with menacing Pace once again two Subarus those of turkington and Plato made up the remainder of the podium of hord's USA racings Matt Neil secured victory in the final btcc race at Alon Park and the outfit had originally looked in place to score a onew finish after Gordon shedon musle his way past Josh Cooks mg on the opening lap the two bright orange Civic tyars immediately set about pulling away from the rest of the field cook became embroiled in a fairly heat debate with Tom ingrams Toyota as the pair tapped and nudged their way through the entire contest Rob Collard meanwhile was making his presence felt with a staggering drive his day already brimming with overtaking Maneuvers there were more to come the season racer had seemingly carved his way through the field in each of the UL part races but Misfortune had up to that point prevented him from scoring a real result he would not be denied in race three however as he stormed from 25th through the field shedon was never close enough to challenge his teammate and then disaster struck for the Scotsman on the penultimate lap when a puncture Apparently after hitting a curve forced him out of contention meanwhile colard beat turkington subu to the line by just 41,000 for a stunning sick given the circumstances the cook Ingram battle would eventually play into the hands of the experienced Jason Plato Ingram was run onto the grass as the gaggle of cars headed down to Lodge for the final time the speedwork star was determined not to let cook past but in holding up his rival he merely opened the door for the line Subaru BMR racing car of Plato to run around the outside and steal the final place on the podium despite being shuffled slightly down the order Young G Ingram still went on to take his third Independence victory of the day matching his best ever weekend points hor in the process toor off's win sees him top Neel by just one point in the overall Championship with both drivers now pulling clear of the chasing pack headed by shedon and Rob Collard wsr leads the manufacturers Constructors points whilst team jct600 with guardex tops the highq teams table mg racing RCI Insurance driver Ash Sutton maintain his advantage in the Jack sear trophy the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now moves on to Croft in North Yorkshire in two weeks time the weekend of June the 18th and 19th well Jason what a weekend it's been and you arrived here with nothing you're leaving with with three drivers trophies in including one for the the first win for the super with Colin turkington great weekend you know we um you know thr some as a real kick in the teeth for us actually we weren't we weren't think we weren't expecting that and uh you know it was a big decision and whilst there was no it was never any doubt in the team's mind that it would come good we um we were kind of secretly looking forward to this one because yeah we've done quite a lot of De development in rounds one and two we needed to wait for this Inlet manifold so which would make the engine breathe a bit better doesn't give any more power just allows us to utilize the Boost we've been given we were feeling a bit bit spicy for this one I mean a fantastic resolve of the team you know Warren Vicki you know Silverline Adrian flux insurance and not least Su Subaru you know they uh they put a lot of faith in Min and car Carlo's hairbrained idea and when we pitched it you know they was like really so yeah big thank you to everybody you know they've worked so hard and this is a great day Monumental day for for everybody and you know we're we're back we're back in town we're we're racing we're having fun we're you know I haven't won a race yet but I'm pretty close to um but yeah three podiums in a day I'm pleased with that good day work and next up heading to Croft a circuit that OB obviously has a very special place in your heart well it's like a like a northern track isn't it where I I was brought up in Newcastle and uh you know I'll see lots of old Pals or pitch up you know it's the one it's the one event where I don't mind getting the phone calls cuz you you know you know what it's like we get phone calls at the Grand Prix have you got any passes no but at Croft I quite like the phone R ringing cuz it's old Pals that'll come and you know support and it'll be nice to see see them I'll always stay over for the Sunday night and go and have a skin full in in Newcastle or you know Shandy or something like that but yeah it's a great circuit you know look the racing is always good good up there I think it'll suit the Subaru it's traditionally been a rear whe Drive track um so yeah we we you know we've got a long way to go we're still we're still lack in some areas uh our car's pretty good not not perfect yet but we're you know for the first time this year I'm really loving driving it I found a little I found my little Groove with it and it feels part of me now so yeah can't wait for Croft see you there thank youhuge crowds descended on the beautiful chesher countryside to the sunand drench 2.26 mile Alon par circuit and we treated to another weekend of all action unpredictability in the dof MSA British Touring Car Championship Colin turkington had scored Silver Line Subaru BMR Racing's first Pole Position after the Alman set a stunning Pace during an exciting session at Al Park Eurotech racing new man Dan Lloyd press once more slotting his Honda Civic typar into a storming second on the grid it's always a festival like atmosphere at aumn and The Spectators packing the banks and Grand stands on Sunday were treated to a fever pitched afternoon of entertainment off the line in race one Sam toov leapt into second immediately passing Lloyd Honda as the cars made their way down to Old Hall turkington had also made a strong getaway from his Pole Position birth and was able to resist the attentions of toov team jct600 with guardex BMW in the early running keeping a half a second cushion in hand the double btcc Champion looked able to stretch his legs when pushed by the yor behind and duy he built a lead of a couple of seconds C Mid race the sist of BMW of Rob Collard meanwhile was in a spin down at the Heen leaving him down the order and Gordon shedon started to make his Mark with a pass on Lloyd at the same spot for third in the first of their squabbles of the day mg racing RCI insurance man Josh cook got the better have experienced hord's USA racing racer Matt Neil out of dearle making the move stick by turn one battles were igniting two throughout the Midfield as a gaggle gathered behind the handy Motorsport Toyota of Rob Austin the pace in the Subaru of Jason Plato became evident towards the halfway stage of the race as he set the fastest lap and passed Lloyd another move made to stick down at The Hairpin rookie Lloyd eventually finished six after Tom Ingram's Toyota pulled up alongside the Eurotech racing machine on the run to the finish line and went on to clinch fifth by just 139 of a second once Plato was past Lloyd the cork was out of the bottle and a classic btcc two and Thro battle ued between his laor and the orange Honda Civic typar of old adversary Gordon shedon with weight in the Honda shedon had to produce a master class in defensive driving after several fail attempts Pato finally made his way through after a valiant effort from the Scot with a better run up dear leap rear wheel driver no success ballast on board undoubtedly helping Jason Plato's cause Ash Sutton tumbled down the pack from sixth place on the same lap as part of an Ingram scrap and the other mg of Josh cook the latter took seventh behind Ingram and Lloyd whilst Aaron Smith and Matt Neil followed in eighth and L respectively Andrew Jordan's pertek racing forth Focus competed the top 10 out front turkington had things covered with toor off at arms length and the race was one in faultless style and historic first victory in the btcc for Subaru made even sweeter by Plato's presence on the podium Toof then made it nine winners in 11 rounds as the team jct600 with guard X-Man produced a stunning measured Drive in the day's second contest the BMW blasted off the line once again past PS to Colin turkington and from there he never looked back Barce had began in Fairly dramatic fashion with a series of incidents leading to a brief early safety car period Aaron Smith's Volkswagen ran wide at Cascades on the opening lap shortly before Rob Austin's Toyota made contact with Jake Hill at the island hairpin the knock on effect spear Hill into Matt Jackson's board Focus although the latter would go on to have a competitive race Rob Collard was surging his way up the order once more following the race one spin this time from 23rd on the grid the West s racing driver picked off car after car and was soon into the top 10 K then joined Josh cook and Matt Neil in a three-way tussle for six which would eventually end the BMW man's challenge the mg racing RCB Insurance driver was determined to keep the triple champion at Bay the pair went side by side making contact towards Cascades but both the Honda and mg continued with only minor cosmetic damage bad luck struck once again on the day for wsr's collard he saw off NE on lap 10 and made his way past Cooks mg two TS later no sooner had he seemingly secured the move however than the BMW 125i M sport ran wide on the exit of old Hall he returned to the Circuit immediately in front of cooker the two touched which broke the right rear suspension on card's machine he limped back to the pit Lane and fell down the order out front it couldn't have been more different for the sister wsr BMW of toor off a Serene controlled Victory with menacing Pace once again two Subarus those of turkington and Plato made up the remainder of the podium of hord's USA racings Matt Neil secured victory in the final btcc race at Alon Park and the outfit had originally looked in place to score a onew finish after Gordon shedon musle his way past Josh Cooks mg on the opening lap the two bright orange Civic tyars immediately set about pulling away from the rest of the field cook became embroiled in a fairly heat debate with Tom ingrams Toyota as the pair tapped and nudged their way through the entire contest Rob Collard meanwhile was making his presence felt with a staggering drive his day already brimming with overtaking Maneuvers there were more to come the season racer had seemingly carved his way through the field in each of the UL part races but Misfortune had up to that point prevented him from scoring a real result he would not be denied in race three however as he stormed from 25th through the field shedon was never close enough to challenge his teammate and then disaster struck for the Scotsman on the penultimate lap when a puncture Apparently after hitting a curve forced him out of contention meanwhile colard beat turkington subu to the line by just 41,000 for a stunning sick given the circumstances the cook Ingram battle would eventually play into the hands of the experienced Jason Plato Ingram was run onto the grass as the gaggle of cars headed down to Lodge for the final time the speedwork star was determined not to let cook past but in holding up his rival he merely opened the door for the line Subaru BMR racing car of Plato to run around the outside and steal the final place on the podium despite being shuffled slightly down the order Young G Ingram still went on to take his third Independence victory of the day matching his best ever weekend points hor in the process toor off's win sees him top Neel by just one point in the overall Championship with both drivers now pulling clear of the chasing pack headed by shedon and Rob Collard wsr leads the manufacturers Constructors points whilst team jct600 with guardex tops the highq teams table mg racing RCI Insurance driver Ash Sutton maintain his advantage in the Jack sear trophy the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now moves on to Croft in North Yorkshire in two weeks time the weekend of June the 18th and 19th well Jason what a weekend it's been and you arrived here with nothing you're leaving with with three drivers trophies in including one for the the first win for the super with Colin turkington great weekend you know we um you know thr some as a real kick in the teeth for us actually we weren't we weren't think we weren't expecting that and uh you know it was a big decision and whilst there was no it was never any doubt in the team's mind that it would come good we um we were kind of secretly looking forward to this one because yeah we've done quite a lot of De development in rounds one and two we needed to wait for this Inlet manifold so which would make the engine breathe a bit better doesn't give any more power just allows us to utilize the Boost we've been given we were feeling a bit bit spicy for this one I mean a fantastic resolve of the team you know Warren Vicki you know Silverline Adrian flux insurance and not least Su Subaru you know they uh they put a lot of faith in Min and car Carlo's hairbrained idea and when we pitched it you know they was like really so yeah big thank you to everybody you know they've worked so hard and this is a great day Monumental day for for everybody and you know we're we're back we're back in town we're we're racing we're having fun we're you know I haven't won a race yet but I'm pretty close to um but yeah three podiums in a day I'm pleased with that good day work and next up heading to Croft a circuit that OB obviously has a very special place in your heart well it's like a like a northern track isn't it where I I was brought up in Newcastle and uh you know I'll see lots of old Pals or pitch up you know it's the one it's the one event where I don't mind getting the phone calls cuz you you know you know what it's like we get phone calls at the Grand Prix have you got any passes no but at Croft I quite like the phone R ringing cuz it's old Pals that'll come and you know support and it'll be nice to see see them I'll always stay over for the Sunday night and go and have a skin full in in Newcastle or you know Shandy or something like that but yeah it's a great circuit you know look the racing is always good good up there I think it'll suit the Subaru it's traditionally been a rear whe Drive track um so yeah we we you know we've got a long way to go we're still we're still lack in some areas uh our car's pretty good not not perfect yet but we're you know for the first time this year I'm really loving driving it I found a little I found my little Groove with it and it feels part of me now so yeah can't wait for Croft see you there thank you\n"