Knockhill BTCC - Plato wins for Subaru after 500th race start
 

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[B][SIZE="4"]Team BMR Subaru driver Jason Plato won the first race of the day at Knockhill, winning his 500th race in the British Touring Car Championship, crossing the line half a second clear of West Surrey Racing BMW's Jack Goff.[/SIZE][/B]

Jason Plato celebrated his 500th BTCC race in style by taking a commanding lights-to-flag victory at Knockhill, becoming the 11th different winner in this incredible 2016 season so far.

The Silverline Subaru BMR Racing driver made a quick getaway off the line, building a strong gap over the first half of the race. He was being reeled in by the BMW of Jack Goff in the latter stages, and also had to contend with a safety car period, but the BTCC legend held on to claim his 95th race win.

The race began in steady fashion with the top six drivers - all running the Dunlop SportMaxx soft tyre - holding station on the opening lap. Matt Neal's Honda nudged Adam Morgan's Mercedes into a spin further down the order, shortly before Andrew Jordan traded positions with Colin Turkington for fifth at the start of the second tour.

Turkington's race was compromised by the move as it was clear his Subaru Levorg was quicker Jordan's Ford for much of the contest. The duo ran side-by-side during lap eight but Turkington had to wait until lap 14 before he could finally snatch back fifth place.

Goff had passed team-mate Sam Tordoff and Tom Ingram's Toyota by that point, and now up to second, began carving into Plato’s lead.

The safety car was deployed on lap 20 after Dan Welch tipped Warren Scott's Subaru into the gravel, which ironically threatened to derail team-mate Plato's chances of victory. Scott's Levorg was retrieved by the marshals and the race was soon underway, with Plato managing the remaining laps with consummate ease as a late challenge from Goff failed to materialise.

"Before this weekend I wasn't getting caught up in any of the numbers,"� said Plato. "You cast your mind back to where it all started - struggling in single-seaters with no money, and doorstepping Sir Frank Williams. 500 races later and we're still winning. Whilst we all wanted to get that first win at Subaru, did it matter too much to me? It was just great to see the cars winning come what may out of the car. In the car, I was obviously disappointed! The ball was just yet to roll my way."


1 [B]Jason PLATO (GBR)[/B] Silverline Subaru BMR Racing [B]25:30.213 (80.47 mph)[/B]
2 [B]Jack GOFF (GBR)[/B] Team IHG Rewards Club [B]+0.503s[/B]
3 [B]Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) [/B]Silverline Subaru BMR Racing [B]+1.003s[/B]
4 [B]Tom INGRAM (GBR)[/B] Speedworks Motorsport [B]+2.375s[/B]
5 [B]Sam TORDOFF (GBR)[/B] Team JCT600 Racing with GardX [B]+2.781s[/B]
6 [B]Andrew JORDAN (GBR)[/B] Motorbase Performance [B]+4.034s[/B]
7 [B]Dave NEWSHAM (GBR)[/B] Power Maxed Racing [B]+5.265s[/B]
8 [B]Matt NEAL (GBR)[/B] Halfords Yuasa Racing [B]+7.605s[/B]
9[B] Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR)[/B] Halfords Yuasa Racing [B]+8.143s[/B]
10 [B]Rob AUSTIN (GBR)[/B] Handy Motorsport [B]+8.357s[/B]
11 [B]Ashley SUTTON (GBR)[/B] MG Racing RCIB Insurance [B]+9.206s[/B]
12 [B]Mat JACKSON (GBR)[/B] Motorbase Performance [B]+10.160s[/B]
13 [B]Aiden MOFFAT (GBR)[/B] Laser Tools Racing [B]+11.295s[/B]
14 [B]Martin DEPPER (GBR)[/B] Eurotech Racing [B]+11.346s[/B]
15 [B]James COLE (GBR)[/B] Silverline Subaru BMR Racing [B]+11.495s[/B]
16 [B]Jake HILL (GBR)[/B] RCIB Insurance Racing [B]+12.307s[/B]
17 [B]Robert COLLARD (GBR)[/B] Team JCT600 Racing with GardX [B]+12.581s[/B]
18 [B]Josh COOK (GBR)[/B] MG Racing RCIB Insurance [B]+13.652s[/B]
19 [B]Michael EPPS (GBR)[/B] RCIB Insurance Racing [B]+14.484s[/B]
20 [B]Hunter ABBOTT (GBR)[/B] Power Maxed Racing [B]+14.863s[/B]
21 [B]Dan WELCH (GBR)[/B] Goodestone Racing [B]+15.114s[/B]
22 [B]Adam MORGAN (GBR)[/B] WIX Racing [B]+15.991s[/B]
23 [B]Ollie JACKSON (GBR)[/B] AmD Tuning.com[B]+16.868s[/B]
24 [B]Michael CAINE (GBR) [/B]TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing [B]+18.868s[/B]
25 [B]Stewart LINES (GBR)[/B] Maximum Motorsport [B]+19.479s[/B]
26 [B]Mark HOWARD (GBR)[/B] BKR [B]+21.057s[/B]
27 [B]Alex MARTIN (GBR)[/B] Dextra Racing [B]+1 laps[/B]
DNF [B]Jeff SMITH (GBR)[/B] Eurotech Racing [B]+8 laps[/B]
DNF [B]Warren SCOTT (GBR)[/B] Silverline Subaru BMR Racing [B]+10 laps[/B]
DNF [B]Aron SMITH (IRL)[/B] BKR [B]+14 laps[/B]
DNF [B]Matt SIMPSON (GBR)[/B] Speedworks Motorsport [B]+18 laps[/B]


[B][SIZE="4"]2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship - Round 19 - Knockhill:[/SIZE][/B]

[I][B]WATCH THE FULL BTCC RACES ONLINE FOR FREE, RIGHT HERE ON ITV: [url=http://www.itv.com/btcc/races]British Touring Cars Championship | BTCC - Sport[/url][/B][/I]

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[B]For more information on Subaru locally, visit:[/B]

[B]Subaru Australia: [URL="http://clixtrac.com/goto/?209359"]http://www.subaru.com.au/ [/URL][/B]

[B]Subaru 2017 Levorg: [URL="http://clixtrac.com/goto/?229802"]http://www.subaru.com.au/new-levorg[/URL][/B]