The Curious Case of Hyundai in the WRC

I would like you to cast your mind back to 2003. After 3 seasons of promise and much potential, the Hyundai works WRC team (run by British team, MSD) looked finally poised to deliver what they had always threatened. Results.

Yet, it was common knowledge that the team had an extremely basic budget that season and this really stifled their efforts. Instead of moving forwards, they fell further behind. The only promising event that season was New Zealand, with Freddy Loix set for a great result until...he crashed. As per usual for the likeable Belgian.

It was with a whimper then, that Hyundai withdrew at the end of the 2003 season, although really it felt like they did that in 2002. It was often joked that the Hyundai CEO never even knew what the WRC was. It wouldn’t have been so surprising if that were to be true.

Pretty much ever since, whenever someone mutes a manufacturer returning to the sport, Hyundai was near the top of that list. To me this always seem strange. Firstly because they only ever seemed to care for 2 out of their 3 years previous and also due to the Kia brand being the one that is meant to have “sporty pretensions”.

Yet, fast forward 9 years to the Geneva Motor Show in 2012 and Hyundai are at it again. The i20 will be the weapon of choice and this time they are serious. So we were told.

There is no doubt that the i20 WRC looks the part. Those spoilers, skirts and air intakes transform a humdrum Koren hatchback into something of real aggression. They are to be a real works outfit too (a scarce thing in this day and age) with initial design and development in Korea, followed by the operation being run from a base in Germany.

Hooray. A nice car, a works team and no doubt the budget to compete on a competitive level. Lets all forget their previous efforts and eagerly await the 2014 stage debut.

Only, pardon me for being a little pessimistic, but something seems a little amiss.

Firstly, apart from the initial launch, it has been eerily quiet. No one has seen the team testing. No one has heard from the people involved. In fact, nobody seems know who the team is! Many have linked Petter Solberg with the Hyundai team to test the car this year and compete next. But this is nothing more than a pipe dream at present. The great man himself was quoted directly only this last week when speaking to the self-proclaimed Voice of Rally, Colin Clark. See the Tweet below:

"Petter [Solberg] told me yesterday he has had absolutely no communications with Hyundai. Can't find anyone who's working the project!"

Oh dear. But this is early days, right? It is far too early to judge. But lets look at the car in question, the i20. It was originally launched at the tail end of 2008, which means by the time 2014 starts, it would be knocking on 6 years old and in Hyundai maths, that means it will be replaced right around the time Monte Carlo kicks off. So why choose now as the time to launch a programme? Or why not use the newer Kia Rio which will have a longer shelf life, is part of the younger Kia brand and a model that could do with a kick up the backside.

Then, 2 days ago, this video appeared on the internet:

Seems quite normal at first glance. A gaggle of Hyundai engineers shaking down their new i20 WRC car. Or are they? Yes, they are. Or maybe not? Certainly, whether it was meant to be the case or not, the video has certainly caused plenty of discussion on the internet and has stolen some of the VW launch party limelight.

Lets first of all look at the source. It is not Hyundai themselves that have released the footage. It has been uploaded to the YouTube channel by the name of Vadim Ovsiankin. Google that name, and you find very little, but a Twitter account by the same name (37 followers, mainly Russian in language) states that the man in question is a motoring journalist. The same goes for the YouTube channel description. So far, there are many car related videos all of a fairly questionable quality.

However, this seems to fit in well with the lack of finesse to the WRC video in question. There is also a video of a ride in the brand new, yet to be revealed, Kia C’eed GT on the same channel. So, clearly there are contacts within the Hyundai/Kia organisation. This adds credence to the WRC footage. The reason for the scrutiny is twofold.

Firstly, no one from Hyundai themselves has spoken very much, if at all, about the project. Thus, why would they let a little-known YouTuber ride shotgun in their top secret project. Secondly, the audio on the video sounds very odd. It’s as if the gear ratios of the car are incredibly short or the sound is dubbed over the top (although the sound does match the revs indicated). There are exterior images, but not moving film of the car in action, mixed together with the onboard video, which again seems a little suspect.

Not only that, but the video description makes extremely bold claims about their budget for their rally project to be in the region of 60-70 million euros. Many respected rally people on Twitter have debunked the video as a fake, including Colin Clark, Andrew Coley and others.

@ryan_champion I dismissed it as a fake Ryan! You think it looks right from the inside? Just wonder why they put such low quality vid out?
— Colin Clark (@voiceofrally) December 10, 2012

One primary reason is that the car on display at recent motor shows has blacked-out windows and didn’t appear to be anything more than a road car with a WRC frock on. However, in Hyundai’s previous official teaser trailer, it is clear the car runs and is 4 wheel drive (40seconds in). Another area of investigation appears to be the interior of the car, but all you need to do is see the interior of a road going i20 on the Hyundai website and compare to see that the dashboard shown on the video is that of a race prepped (or at-least stripped) i20.

The sound however, remains a bit of a mystery. As does the origin of the clip, plus the silence of the company. The man driving it certainly seems happy that he is being filmed, which doesn’t seem to fit with the secrecy involved. One point that seems to be glossed over is that the uploader mentions in the video description that many other journalists were there too. This could be the key. What if it was a real event, but the overly-keen budding journo broke a NDA by jumping the gun and getting an exclusive scoop? In a month or two time, will magazines and websites write about passenger rides in Hyundai’s new WRC challenger?

Either way, it highlights the strange approach Hyundai are taking to their re-entry into the World Rally Championship. The real question here is not the reliability of the video, but are Hyundai finally willing to support a concerted effort to win the title and do they have a firm understanding of what it takes to do so? At this moment in time, I remain to be convinced.

Update 1: Uh-oh...

Something going on at Hyundai, but unclear what! Hearing a component supplier was due to deliver WRC spec parts but order changed to R5 spec
— Colin Clark (@voiceofrally) December 10, 2012

Update 2: Intriguing...
If you do a bit of digging around on the Hyundai website, you will come across this job listing: It is for a "General Affairs Manager" to, and I quote, "In order to further extend our World Rally Championship activities in Alzenau (near Hanau)." [Germany, near-ish Frankfurt. It is also one of the few places where you cannot use Google Street View. Spooky.] Posted on the official Hyundai Global website on 12/11/2012. With this in mind, could it be that we simply haven't heard anything because they simply haven't recruited anybody into their EU WRC programme. This would seem to suggest so. It would certainly be difficult without someone to "Manage the overall administration of the company" and "Advise the Management to support meeting business goals and objectives".

Update 3: Take this with a pinch of salt...
Swedish rally news website Ericsson Motorsport are claiming Kris Nissen will be the man to lead the campaign. Well, he's certainly Scandinavian (Danish) and free, after leaving VW Motorsport earlier this year (No Kris, Sainz will not return to rallying and no, Vettel will not drive the Polo either..). The article also goes on to say that Jari Ketomaa could be the test driver. Take this as you will. This is a rumour at best. Sounds like an educated guess to me however.

PR or not to PR

In a world where less manufacturers enter motorsport to try and cut costs, Motorsport relies on sponsorship and big money deals to keep the drivers driving. So, it is only natural then that teams that do manage to get sponsorship deals or works drives, try to get value for their backers. A current tend at the moment is to blame parts of the car failing that the team hasn't made.

Picture the scene. You have millions of pounds of sponsors behind the racing team. Maybe you have a few company chiefs visiting the circuit and eating pasta in your hospitality tent. Then the car breaks down. Disappointingly so. The inevitable TV, trackside and website interviews happen, so what do you say? Clearly, your investors are number one priority.

See that wing flapping? Alan Gow's personal fault that is..

So, what has been said in the BTCC of late goes something along the lines of this. "Well, we showed strong pace in practice with the Morrison's Bargain Bananas Mazda so I was really looking forward to the race, I think we had a good shot at a podium. What a shame that one of the TOCA supplied common components, that the Morrison's Bargain Bananas team have nothing to do with at all, failed. It's something that we have no control over and something that we are forced to use, forced to use I say, so a real shame that our hands were tied" etc etc...

You see. Crisis avoided. Wasn't the teams fault, blame it on the regs. Sponsors happy. Or are they...? Here's the rub. Things break. Fairly often. Especially in racing. It is part of the game. I don't think anyone would really begrudge a team and their backers if once in a while the car broke down as fans expect it to happen a few times in a season. So firstly, to blame specific parts failures on the governing body so quickly puts everyone's back against the wall. You certainly wouldn't here something like "well, the Brembo brakes broke and we didn't make them so it's not our fault. Honest". There are thousands of components in a racing car, a lot of them made by outside companies. Do drivers signal out Xtrac by name every time there is a drivetrain problem? No, of course not.

But more prominent is that all this finger pointing is negative for the series and the set of NGTC regulations as a whole. These are newish rules. Most teams are new to the rules. Lets go to MG as a case study. At Croft, they had an electrical problem that appeared at the end of qualifying and for the first race of the day on one car. A certain driver was then understandably upset. In an interview it is fair to say that the TOCA supplied electrical components we heavily critised.Thus shifting blame from the team and hopefully pleasing the representatives of MG, who were visiting the race meeting from China. But, if you point the fingers at the TOCA parts, this is ultimately undermining the regulations and you could see the case of Tesco & MG thinking their money could be taken to another series. Mention TOCA parts and problems too many times and it damages the reputation of the series, potentially making it harder for sponsorship deals. Not just for your team, but others in the championship too.

Will impresses his sponsors

It is, of course, a hard line to balance. I'm not suggesting for a moment never to pass the buck, but there is a point where things could quite easily actually be a negative thing. On at least 3 occasions his year, the MG drivers have "passed the buck". A similar thing has happened (and arguably still happening) in IndyCar of late. It is clear to see that there are underlying problems with the cars, engines, regulations and governing body. But a public spat never, ever, helped anyone. Not the drivers, not the teams and not the championship. We all enjoy racing and a healthy debate is always interesting, but sometimes I wish the taste wasn't so bitter.

Why The WRC Has So Much To Offer

I have a confession. I love the WRC. I think the driving style required to be quick simply spectacular as the cars crackle, pop and spew gravel everywhere. Then, if there is a crash, it is always mind blowing. But here's the thing. The sport is in it's darkest hours right now.

Kind Of Symbolic Really

After the loss of a promoter at the start of the year (thanks to a Russian "billionaire" who actually lacked the billions needed to be a billionaire and was done for fraud) the WRC had no real TV coverage, no one running the website and no one to find sponsorship for the series. The coverage has continued, but more of a goodwill gesture as the TV reports are cobbled together at the last minute on a shoe string budget and WRC.com is being run by loyal rallying journalists. Then just two weeks ago, Nokia announced they will be taking their title sponsorship ("WRC - Powered by Nokia") elsewhere.

It gets worse. With no promoter, the FIA is in charge of organising the events, coverage and the future event calendar. North One Sport used to give rally organisers money for each round. Theory being, the organisers go through a lot of effort and money to set up the event, but then NOS contributed to get the TV rights. Now, the FIA want organisers to set up the events and then pay them for the right to be on TV. Consequently, not one event has signed the agreement for 2013. Technically as it stand right now, there isn't a WRC next year. (The official wrc.com website currently lists a calendar as a nice PR push, but they don't tell that no one has signed up to run the events!)

Not only that, but some guy called Sebastian Loeb has managed to make this incredible sport boring and predictable. Well, that statement is perhaps a bit harsh. You can't knock the man for being a literal driving god. But ever since his spectacular WRC début in 2001, the sport has been turned upside down. In his very first full season, 2003, he finished a close runner up to the champion Petter Solberg. Since then he has won every single title. Yup, that's 2004, 2005, 2006 (despite being in a semi-works car), 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. There isn't a record left standing that doesn't now have his name attached to it. Just when you think someone in a Ford (be that Solberg, Latvala, Gronholm or Hirvonen) gets close to either winning a rally or a championship, the magical Loeb manages to pull it out of the bag with a simple Gallic shrug.

A national sporting hero in France (not only a French champion, but in a French car) and no doubt at all, the best driver the series has ever seen, if he were to retire at the end of 2012 then the end of the WRC may not be so close. Just imagine what it would be like without him. Looking at this years rallies and those from previous seasons, there have been titanic scraps for the other podium positions. Now imagine those battles being for 1st. We would have had more winners and different champions. There would be a better chance to win (more like the early 00's where any of 6/8 drivers could win each rally) and then surely more incentive for manufactures to enter. Loeb recently expressed a nonplussed attitude to longer rally distances recently introduced, set up his own endurance LeMans team and last month convincingly won a Porsche Carrera Cup race around Pau. So perhaps leaving the World Rally Championship at the end of this season is a real possibility.

Come On, This Needs To Happen

Maybe, just maybe if a promoter is found for next year and if Loeb retires, BMW will do the right thing and continue their Mini programme. It probably won't happen, but it would be nice. Also, this season hasn't been helped by Ford's continued bad luck and the only man who could seriously not just challenge, but beat hands down, Loeb, is not competing. Sebastian Ogier taking a year out to develop the new VW Polo WRC has been a great loss. Rumours cropped up recently when ex WRC champion Miki Biasion tweeted that Lancia could return in 2013. There is a very slim chance that a turbo engine could be stuck in the Proton S2000 car. But nother seem extremely slim.

You get the impression that thanks to French domination and lack of poor leadership, a series with such massive potential has been baulked. It may be on the brink, be the WRC is really worth saving.

Just What Is The GRC?

The GRC is about to kick off. Well, it kicked off 2 rounds ago at Charlotte. But I meant, grow in popularity. Not heard of it? You should have and if not, you were no doubt about to any time soon. GRC is the Global RallyCross championship (or should it be GRCC?) and that name is particularly interesting for two reasons.

First, it isn't technically Rallycross. Second, it isn't really Global either. In that usual great American tradition (such as the SuperBowl "World" Final, or something like that), the Global Rallycross Championship is in actual fact held in the US and only the US. Then, so far in 2012 anyway, the events have been purely on tarmac. Traditional Rallycross is held on a circuit that consists of both tarmac (or should that be "asphalt") and gravel, which is where the name originates from.

This has led to many hardcore fans openly mocking the GRC. Fortunately there are only 3 fans of Rallycross in the world. So while they post on YouTube comments, the rest of us motorsport fans can enjoy a properly marketed series, with big name sponsors, manufacturer support and star drivers from all forms of racing. The winner of the first two rounds this year is non other than double World Rally Champion, Marcus Gronholm. The lanky 44 year old Finn has certainly shown the pack that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Yet, while Marcus has stolen the headlines in his Best Buy Mobile sponsored Ford Fiesta, a quick scan of the entry list is also extremely interesting. First, in another Fiesta, is Tanner Foust. He did some stuff on YouTube once and is current a presenter on Top Gear US. He also turned up to Ken Block's own Gymkhana event and beat him. Ken is also present here in suitable Monster Energy attire. Joining them is Travis Pastrana. He is also very famous around those YouTube parts for jumping out of a plane, crashing rally cars, achieving the longest jump in a car and being motorcross champion. Not only that, but he drives a Red Bull sponsored works Dodge Dart. Not to mention Rhys Millen, who is in a works Hyundai Veloster (but sssh, don't tell anyone, underneath it's a venerable Accent WRC) and the odd appearance from ERC and British RallyCross star Liam Doran. Not to mention Brian Deegan, Sverre Isachsen, Dave Mirra and Filipe Albuquerque.

Wait, there's more. Live coverage on ESPN with commentator Toby Moody, the 3rd event of the season being the X Games (you may have heard of it if you have played the DiRT games) and the others events supporting Indy & NASCAR events (so big stadium seating for fans).

With only 6 events this season, the GRC is short but sweet. I believe that with a few subtle changes and a longer calendar, the GRC could be the series to put in motion a RallyCross revival. Certainly, the racing so far has been close, with plenty of action. For instance, here is mega-star Ken Block trying to keep up with good old Marcus. And crashing. Twice.

Update: It's been confirmed that Sebastian Loeb will be joining in for the X-Games round!

Social Networking In Motorsport - Yay Or Nay

Social Networking is ace. No two ways about it. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more Facebook accounts than people on earth.Consequently, this presented an opportunity for companies to promote their products and also sports personalities to interact with fans (and gain followers to promote themselves, to then show to potential sponsors and so on and so forth). When done correctly, Social Media can be a massive win, but there are many many pitfalls and missed opportunities.

This was ever meant to be a British Touring Car Championship BTCC focussed blog and it still isn't. But this series has adopted sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube so heavily of late, it would be churlish to look elsewhere as the teams, drivers and PR assistants all jump on the bandwagon to try and impress potential sponsors and increase fan following.

"Why Didn't You Reply To My Tweet?!"

There are any number of driver twitter accounts you can follow. Matt Jackson, Jason Plato, Dave Newsham, Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal etc etc. Not only that but teams, sponsors and staff have various account all related to the BTCC. In addition, there is an increasing number of BTCC related websites that have twitter accounts and also the writers and commentators can also be followed. If you follow them all (or at least most of them anyway) you can end up with a constant twitter feed, all some way relating to your favourite motorsport series. This is only a good thing for the championship as a whole. NASCAR being the prime example how how to do Twitter (even so far as having a #NASCAR Twitter TV advert. Article here).

And yet, there is still so much to learn. For instance, I simply couldn't fathom by Daniel Welch had not one, but two twitter accounts. I'm sure there must have been a reason behind it. I thought maybe one account was a personal day to day one, while the other was for racing only news. Yet I've seen both tweet about the racing and retweet each other. Confused, much? Thankfully, only one exists as I write this. Perhaps in the future one could be used by a team member to provide live race tweet updates, while the other is Dan himself.

Dave Tries To Tweet & Drive - Fails

One driver that has to be commended with his twitter use is Dave Newsham. He retweets positive messages from fans as a Quote, adding his own "thanks" or comment to the end. It shows he reads what the fans are saying and not only that, but takes time out of his day to do it. Social media is primarily used to build relationships and make things more personal. This is how to do it. I can just picture Dave with his feet up in his Scottish castle by a lake, with a roaring fire, a glass of whiskey and a vending machine, replying to tweets. (Probably not true, but you never know)

As for the other Team ES racing driver. Well, the number of tweets produced, the time taken to tweet and the personal touch are all commendable. But the danger with "out there" comments is that the community can take a slight turn against you. This is one of the many pitfalls. Recently a "Not Chris James" parody twitter account was set up, already amassing 200 followers

Aside from the obvious advantages and disadvantages (never tweet after drinks, no matter how tempting) there is still so much un-tapped potential for the BTCC online. A quick look at YouTube reveals many videos that receive thousands of views, ranging from classic John Cleland & Steve Soper crashes, all the way through to incidents from the latest round at Oulton Park. It is a great way to promote the sport, a fact that has only recently been picked up by the official BTCC.Net YouTube account. It now uploads an "official" highlights real of the previous rounds action. However, the potential is squandered by the time delay. Within hours of a race ending, loyal YouTube-ers have already uploaded the latest videos, so why would you watch it again 3 weeks later? Of course, there may be some agreement with ITV preventing such a thing from happening.

The only team that regularly posts videos is Honda Yuasa Racing. They are up to the minute (uploaded during race day with quick clips and interviews straight after a race) and show Honda PR activities during non-race weekends. This is great. However, while the quick clips that are clearly uploaded straight from a phone are speedy, it would be nice to see a proper feature video round up of the weekends action in addition. Tony Gilham has been leading the way in the respect, by first making a very professional looking video at Brands, followed by a hilarious "Go Hard" music video, which was not only funny but went hand in hand with one of his sponsors.

In fact, to get a lesson in the best YouTube accounts, you have to look to other touring car series. Tom Coronel in the WTCC has built up a large and loyal following by uploading 2 well produced YouTube videos per race weekend. A preview clip to give you a tour of the track with a qualifying report and then race highlights. The main draw is of course on-board race footage, which is shot using GoPro cameras. This is something that I would love to see in the BTCC. Once again, there may be TV rights issues to overcome, but anyone can see Coronel's videos as promotion for the series and a compliment to watching the live race coverage. It adds to the experience as opposed to loosing TV viewing figures. The BTCC live coverage does not use on-board shots and at times, action happening further down the pack can be missed. What better way to relieve a big Plato or Neal fightback through the field than an on-board video uploaded the following week? If there is an agreement that prevents teams from filming then it is short-sightedness on behalf of whoever made that decision.

Jan Flash - Watch My Videos, Now! (Or I'll start my own series..)

Another series that knew a trick of two was the STCC. Was being the operative word, as "Mr STCC" himself, Jan 'Flash' Nilsson has gone with some other teams and formed their own entire series, TTA. But, the point is, long before Mr Coronel made it popular, Flash and his team we doing videos for years (1.5million total views and counting). Be it race highlights, testing clips or interviews. What this enables is an audience outside of Sweden. I'd never heard of the Swedish Touring Car Championship until I stumbled across one of Flash's videos. The beauty is, people worldwide can watch even if there isn't TV coverage in their region. A series' popularity outside of the target nation may seem a little pointless, but an outside audience bolsters the championship's reputation.

Lastly, Facebook. This is something that the BTCC needs to look at and perhaps change the way it goes about things. Dunlop for instance have a great page, with regular BTCC ticket competitions. Mac Tools (a sponsor of Frank Wrathall) have set-up a page which is still in it's infancy, but provides race updates, pictures, general Mac Tools news and competitions. In this respect the Honda BTCC and eBay Motors BTCC pages are similarly well run. But, if you look at the individual driver pages, it's all wrong. First of all, the golden rule on Facebook is that your personal page should remain that way. I've added several BTCC drivers on Facebook, who use their personal profile for fans to "Friend". But it should be that they have a Facebook account for their own real-life friends and then a Facebook page for BTCC fans to then Like. For instance, do I really need to know Adam Morgan's relationship status? No, of course not, that's too personal for a fan to know. Also, Redstone Racing's page is still entitled "Airwaves Racing (Redstone)". This can and should be changed.

So, to summarise. Facebook Twitter and YouTube. Absolutely brilliant to raise the profile of the series, the teams, the sponsors and the drivers. But, please, sort it out BTCC


UPDATE: Prior to writing this post, I got word from Rob Austin on Twitter that filming is indeed prohibited on race weekends (with regards to in camera shots during races). Thus no on board footage allowed from the teams. (See here & here).

So I decided to ask the big man himself, Alan Gow, on the appropriately named "Questions For Alan Gow" forum thread on BTCC.net. My question and his response can be seen here (you may have to log in). Bit of a bullet dodging answer, perhaps I should have been more precise with the wording of my question as we all already know that "behind the scenes" items can be filmed. I was aiming for race action, and I did at least mention that. Sigh. Still, nice to get a response I guess. "BTCC teams are allowed (after first obtaining clearance) to film in the paddock, their garage, their awnings, their hospitality or suchlike at an event - in fact anywhere apart from, obviously, the on-track action" No kidding! And no, the forum won't allow me to respond any further.

The Jason Plato Sandwich - A Review

Little did we know, as fans of the BTCC, that Jason Plato's actual number one past time was not over-taking Matt Neal, flying helicopters nor drinking KX energy drinks (or was that a bottle of water I spotted at Oulton....?). No, it turns out our Plato loves a good sandwich. A self-proclaimed "King of Sandwiches" none the less.

Plato - On Sale Amongst The Ginsters

Available in Tesco fuel stations as part of the "exclusive" Deli range, the Jason Plato special is a ham and coleslaw sandwich. Nothing special there then apart from the added Jalapeno mayonnaise. I got it wrong anyway. This is not merely ham but Smoked Ham and not ordinary coleslaw but Crunchy Coleslaw. Not sure what that says about non-Jason Plato Tesco coleslaw if it isn't normally crunchy....

After an initial lag to the taste, about 10 seconds after the first bite, things soon spool up as the hot jalapeno mayonnaise soon smacks your taste buds with all the subtlety of a Plato love tap at Clearways. (Waheey! See what I did there.....boost and overtaking puns, I really should take up this cuisine review lark.) It doesn't blow your face off like a hot curry, but by the end of the sandwich a drink is advised. I had a glass of apple, strawberry & lychee juice, but ordinary water could also be used.

All in all, £2 for a sandwich of this ilk from a fuel station is quite reasonable. The granary bread sets off the whole taste sensation. However minus marks must be awarded for the rather smug looking image of Jason on the rear of the packaging

The Plato Effect

Something strange happened on Sunday. Jason Plato had qualified on pole position in his MG (sorry, MG KX Momentum Racing MG6...) for race one of the day at the Oulton Park BTCC meeting, only for a suspension part to fail before the race had started. Thus he was not able to take part. Even stranger was a feeling of emptiness on my behalf as the MG was wheeled off the grid.

I've never been a Plato fan. Nor have I ever understood why anyone else would be. I had to guffaw at the one man in a Plato MG jacket that cost over £150 when I visited Donington recently. I feel his moves on track bend the rules just a little too far and find off the track his general demeanor (bordering on schizophrenic, in the words of his arch-nemesis, Matt Neal) to be rude and self-congratulating. I may have even been known to cheer slightly in an un-sporting way if he ends up in the gravel trap.


But, with no Plato in the race, something didn't feel right. It wasn't the BTCC. Love to hate him, but without his presence and undoubted ability to extract that extra tenth, the field felt hollow. In the race, we were treated to a Matt Neal win, a Honda 1-2 and plenty of on track action. But, with no Jason Plato from the very start, the feeling was muted.

There is no denying then that he is the BTCCs poison chalice. As Paul O'Neill rightly summarised during the ITV4 coverage, the championship will be a very quiet place without him. No doubt about it, despite claiming to be a "Marketing Genius" and launching his own sandwich (yes, really, the Jason Plato Sandwich, on sale now in Tesco), being able to pull together large sponsorship deals through building up a reputation is a big help to the series as a whole. Long may it continue. Over to car manufacturers UK marketing departments then, to hopefully see value in the BTCC for next year and beyond as sooner or later Plato will retire...