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Trackside - Plato's team behind the scenes
23 April 2007 After a crushing blow in the first event the team bounced back to fight for victory in the last race of the day. Trackside’s Keith Collantine was in the Seat garage for an unprecedented first-hand experience of the highs and lows of racing. Darren Turner’s Seat Leon rolled into the pole position slot at Rockingham. Eighteen hours earlier his team had cheered him on to pole position - now he was 16 laps away from his first win. But the engine cut out abruptly and left him stranded as the race began. A crestfallen Turner returned to his equally shattered mechanics. And adding insult to injury, when the car was returned to the garage after the race, it promptly fired up first time. The weekend had begun optimistically when the Seat boys took first and third on the grid. Plato’s third place was a different kind of achievement. When a faulty starter motor was discovered on his Leon the mechanics sprang into action. With well-drilled speed the motor was changed in time to get Plato one last lap in before time ran out. But that was just a taster of the trials the team faced this weekend. Race one
Plato also had his troubles. He held a strong second behind Fabrizio Giovanardi’s Vauxhall until Fiona Leggate’s MG dumped oil on the track. Several drivers including Plato slithered off – but he lost second place to Tom Chilton’s Vauxhall. The voice of a frustrated Plato crackled over the radio: “Where were the oil flags?” Race engineer Piers Phillips fired back: “Don’t worry about it. It’s a podium finish, and we can take off some weight.” Plato’s car had carried success ballast following his double win at Brands Hatch three weeks ago. But that penalty would be reduced for the second race – potentially making his car more competitive. Race two While Plato’s car needed only routine checks between the two races, Turner’s crew pored over his engine and control systems to hunt down the elusive fault. With only 90 minutes between the races, once again the team were up against the clock to make a major fix – and once again they performed brilliantly. As the bright red timing clock ticked down towards zero the Leon fired back into life and wheeled back into the pit lane. Now the work was all in Turner’s hands – and he didn’t disappoint. From 21st on the grid he sensationally vaulted up to ninth within a single lap. The team cheered him on as he scythed past the slower cars on lap one. Crucially he and Plato dodged a mammoth shunt that wiped out three key rivals – both Honda Civics of Team Dynamics and Colin Turkington’s BMW. Turner battled through to sixth behind Plato, whereupon the team advised him that a rash move on his team mate would not be the best way to end such a fine drive. Plato was fuming, having lost fourth place to Mat Jackson’s BMW. He came back on the radio and said: “I’m losing four car lengths down the straight. We have to fix this.” Third and 21st on the grid had turned into fifth and sixth in the race. Now the team had one final chance to take a win at Rockingham. Race three
Both cars were wheeled out in time for the start – but when Turner’s car stalled again it looked as if lightning had struck twice. But the team fired the car up and Turner, revving the engine hard, shot off to join the grid. Another crisis averted. Plato’s start was electrifying. While his rivals ahead tripped over themselves he cut a swathe through them to jump from sixth to the lead on lap one. Jackson, behind, could not repeat his pass from the previous race – Plato was not to be denied this time. Turner too made a rapid getaway and was harried by the Vauxhalls of Chilton and Giovanardi. The Seat crew applauded Turner‘s single-handed defence even as Chilton pushed against the back of the Leon at turn two. The whole team cheered from the pit wall when Plato sealed the win and Turner followed him in third. The weekend ended as it had begun – with Seat on top. Plato’s car was not always the quickest during the weekend. But he extended his championship lead thanks to that outstanding start, and his equally impressive crew, who he doused in champagne after picking up his trophy. Trackside video
Meanwhile in the German Touring Car championship Tom Kristensen and Alexandre Premat amazingly walked away from this shocking crash. Auto Trader links Trackside - The ten races you MUST see |
Brimming with confidence after qualifying, the team’s hopes were shattered in the cruellest way by Turner’s engine failure. On top of scoring no points, he would have to start race two from last.
Between the races the mechanics tore crunched body panels off the cars and replaced them with fresh ones. They checked and re-checked the brakes, inspected the engines, replaced the tyres, aligned all four corners of the cars and polished it to perfection.Page 1
