All About Silverstone

Jason Plato may have won eight races but Mr Consistent, Fabrizio Giovanardi, has scored points in every single race this season.

The Seats of Plato and team mate Darren Turner lined up on the front row, but in the wet it was the power and traction of the rear wheel drive Motorbase Performance BMW of Steven Kane that rockets off the grid from sixth to an amazing second, just behind Plato in what must be one of, if not the most explosive starts of the season.

Unfortunately by just lap two poor Kane was off into the gravel and his unlucky team mate Rob Collard also suffered misfortune with a loss of power steering after a collision.

The safety car slowed the action as early as lap three. After the restart Matt Neal and Mat Jackson had a good tussle with Jackson winning third place from the former champion and by half distance it was Plato, Turner and Jackson in the top three spots. Turner however was unable to fend off a rampaging Jackson in the extremely strong BMW who finished a strong second behind Plato, who’s led from lights to flag.

Race Two

Jackson was immediately squeezed into the pit wall by Plato but manages to use the extra traction on the inside of the track to take the lead. It’s a lead that only lasts one lap as Plato demotes Jackson to second just before a safety car period once again slows the action. Lap ten sees Fabrizio Giovanardi in the Vauxhall plunge Jackson from second to fifth as he broadsides him and unsettles the rear wheel car so much that Jackson can not recover.

By half distance Plato, who had built up a gap between himself and Fabrizio Giovanardi, plummets down the order to fifth and eventually finishes seventh due to tyre issues, leaving his rival Fabrizio Giovanardio to take the win from Colin Turkington in second, Adam Jones third, Neal fourth.

Drive of the race however came from Kane in his newly repaired BMW. After the torment of spinning out in race one he was forced to start race two from the very back of the grid yet the young Motorbase Performance driver fought his way up through the entire field and snatched an excellent fifth place on the final lap from the beleaguered, but still battling, Plato.

Race Three

The reverse grid as always throws up a few interesting battles throughout the field. By lap three Tom Onslow-Cole leads in the VX Racing Vauxhall from Gordon Shedden in the Honda and Plato while Kane was unlucky once more and had to retire from the race.

After race three on the podium.

By half distance Plato moved his way into the lead with Onslow-Cole second and the man on a mission, Matt Jackson, in third. More bad luck however was in store for Plato as he lost places again dropping to fifth only to also see Fabrizio Giovanardi go past him.

At the flag it’s Jackson, Jones, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Turkington and Plato that make up the top five. Plato’s championship challenge, although mathematically still possible, is in tatters.