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...