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Jason Plato

From Alfawiki
Jason Plato
Born (1967-10-14) October 14, 1967 (age 59)
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Occupation(s)Racing driver, television presenter
Years active1989–2022 (racing)
Known forBritish Touring Car Championship driver and two-time champion; presenter on Fifth Gear

Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a retired British racing driver who most recently competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) representing BTC Racing. He secured the BTCC championship twice, first in 2001 driving for Vauxhall and again in 2010 with Silverline Chevrolet. Plato achieved a top-three finish in the overall standings on twelve occasions and holds the record for the highest number of total race victories in BTCC history. Additionally, he has been a presenter on the automotive television series Fifth Gear since 2004.

Career history

Originating from Oxford, Plato began his motorsport journey in karting, where he notably won the British Championship in the Junior TKM category in 1989. He then advanced through the ranks of Formula Three and Formula Renault. In 1996, he competed in the Renault Spider championship, where he clinched the title with a commanding performance.

Williams Renault (1997–1999)

Plato earned a seat with Williams-Renault's BTCC team in 1997 following a test arranged by Frank Williams. Overcoming initial skepticism, he secured the drive and immediately impressed by taking pole position in his first three races piloting the Renault Laguna. As a rookie, he won two events and concluded the season third overall behind teammate Alain Menu. He maintained competitive form with fifth-place finishes in both 1998 and 1999 seasons.

Vauxhall (2000–2001)

In 2000, Plato transitioned to Vauxhall and again finished fifth in the championship. The following year, benefiting from new cost-control regulations and Vauxhall’s dominant machinery, he captured the BTCC title after teammate Yvan Muller’s car suffered a fire during the final round.

ASCAR and Break from BTCC (2002–2003)

With aspirations to enter NASCAR, Plato competed in the British ASCAR stock car series during 2002, driving a Ford Taurus for XCEL Motorsport and finishing third overall. In 2003, he took on a driver coaching role at SEAT before making his return to BTCC with SEAT in 2004.

SEAT (2004–2008)

Starting in 2004, Plato spearheaded SEAT's BTCC campaign with their new Toledo model. Despite ongoing development hurdles, he secured seven wins—the highest tally that season—and ended third in the championship standings. Changes to qualifying procedures combined with strong opposition from Matt Neal’s Team Dynamics Honda and Yvan Muller’s Vauxhall limited his title prospects in 2005, where he finished fourth overall with three victories.

In 2006, Plato was SEAT’s lead driver for their newly introduced León model, competing alongside teammates James Thompson and Darren Turner across all ten events. He achieved second place in the championship following a successful season featuring multiple race wins and maintained a streak of finishing within the top five every year up to that point.

The 2007 campaign saw a tight championship fight against Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi. Plato secured early victories and held the points lead mid-season but narrowly missed out on the title by three points after a disputed final round. He recognized Giovanardi as a worthy champion.

For 2008, SEAT switched to running a diesel-powered León, marking BTCC’s inaugural diesel race win at Donington Park. Although Plato recorded several wins and closed the gap on Giovanardi, mechanical issues affected his consistency throughout the season. While still mathematically eligible for the championship late into the year, reliability problems prevented him from mounting a serious challenge, ultimately finishing behind privateer Mat Jackson in second place overall.

RML Chevrolet (2009–2011)

Following SEAT's exit from the BTCC at the close of 2008, Plato contemplated taking a break but returned in 2009 with a privately entered RML Group Chevrolet Lacetti. The team obtained sponsorship from Silverline power tools and Auto Windscreens, competing under the Racing Silverline banner. At the concluding round held at Brands Hatch, Plato achieved victories in all three races, including an exceptionally narrow win by 0.015 seconds, ultimately securing 2nd place in the championship, just five points behind Colin Turkington.

In 2010, RML was appointed as an official Chevrolet factory team, introducing the Cruze model adapted from the World Touring Car Championship, with Plato as the principal driver. He quickly emerged as a title contender, capturing double wins at Snetterton and dominating the latter half of the season to clinch the 2010 MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch. His 60th victory matched Andy Rouse’s BTCC record.

Plato remained with RML Chevrolet for the 2011 season, commencing with a win at Brands Hatch and setting a new BTCC record by achieving his 61st career victory. He concluded the season ranked 3rd in the overall standings.

MG KX Momentum Racing (2012–2014)

Plato signed with Triple Eight Race Engineering (United Kingdom) to pilot their MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, finishing 3rd in both years. In 2014, competing under the MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save sponsorship within the same team structure, he improved his championship standing to 2nd place.

Team BMR (2015–2018)

In February 2015, Plato joined Team BMR alongside Colin Turkington, Aron Smith, and Warren Scott for that year’s BTCC campaign. He secured six race wins but narrowly missed out on the championship by four points.

For the 2016 season, Team BMR fielded four Subaru Levorgs. Although the season began slowly with a best finish of 13th at Brands Hatch, ongoing development led to nine podium finishes and a victory at Knockhill coinciding with Plato’s 500th race milestone. The following year, a crash at Brands Hatch caused chassis damage that hindered performance throughout the season; despite this setback, Plato earned four podiums including another win at Knockhill and finished 12th in the championship.

In 2018, Team BMR transitioned from Mountune to Swindon engines aiming to enhance reliability. However, this change resulted in subpar performance; Plato failed to score points during the first four events and managed only one podium—a second-place finish at Croft—ending the season with just 26 points and placing 27th overall.

Power Maxed Racing (2019–2021)

On 20 February 2019, Plato announced his move to Power Maxed Racing, driving their factory-supported Vauxhall Astra. He ended the season seventh in the standings with 237 points and secured a victory in the final race of the year.

In 2020, although Power Maxed Racing did not compete full-time, they retained Plato for the following season. During 2021, throttle linkage problems affected the Vauxhall’s performance; nevertheless, Plato achieved one podium finish at the opening round held at Thruxton Circuit and completed the year ranked 14th with a total of 156 points.

BTC Racing (2022)

On 6 April 2022, Plato revealed his transfer to BTC Racing for what would be his 23rd and final BTCC campaign. He finished the season in 17th place overall, securing a solitary podium appearance at Snetterton.

Additional Racing Endeavors

Jason Plato took part in the Bathurst 1000 on two occasions and also raced once in the Sandown 500, though with modest results. His second Bathurst entry saw him team up with the late Peter Brock for the Holden Racing Team, but their run was cut short after a collision involving John Cleland (racing driver).

In 1998, Plato competed in the Silverstone Rally Sprint, part of the British Rally Championship, driving a Renault Megane F2. Alongside co-driver Andy Wilman—known for his previous role as Top Gear presenter and executive producer—he secured a ninth-place finish.

During his 2005 British Touring Car Championship campaign, Plato also contested four rounds of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) representing SEAT Sport. He earned a podium with a second-place finish at Silverstone. Additionally, he claimed victory in one race and finished runner-up overall in the 2005 European Touring Car Cup.

Plato regularly participates in historic motorsport events such as the Goodwood Revival and Members Meeting. He often shares driving duties with celebrity chef James Martin (chef) and fellow racer Craig Davies (racing driver), competing in various vintage automobiles.

Television Career

Plato is a co-host on Channel 5’s motoring series Fifth Gear, alongside Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson, and Jonny Smith. Previously, he was a presenter on Channel 4's show Driven, working with Mike Brewer, Penny Mallory, and James May. He also made an appearance with Tom Ford on an episode of Ready Steady Cook UK.

In October 2007, while filming for Fifth Gear at Bruntingthorpe proving ground, Plato suffered burns to his neck, face, and hands when a Caparo T1 supercar caught fire while traveling at approximately 250 km/h (160 mph). Despite these injuries, he recovered swiftly enough to participate in that weekend’s final BTCC race. The incident was later humorously referenced on Top Gear, where Jeremy Clarkson dubbed him 'Baked Potato.'

Plato also presented Sky One’s Mission Implausible, competing alongside Tania Zaetta as they attempted various stunts each episode.

Publication

On 19 September 2019, Jason Plato released his autobiography titled How Not to Be a Professional Racing Driver, published by Penguin Books Ltd.

Personal Background

Born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, Plato attended Chillingham Road Primary School during his early education.

Business Activities

Plato acts as a brand ambassador for Tesco Momentum 99 Fuel, Jigsaw24, and AMX Home Automation Systems. He is also the owner of Brand Pilot Ltd, a marketing agency. On 30 March 2021, it was announced that Fuelling Around, the podcast he co-hosts with Dave Vitty, would return for a second season. The pair hosted their inaugural live motoring event at Motorsport UK's Bicester facility on 23 September 2021.

Complete British Touring Car Championship Results

(key) Races shown in bold denote pole position (1 point awarded – from 1997 to 2002 all races; since 2003 only for first race; from 2000 to 2003 in class). Races displayed in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – from 2001 onwards all races; from 2000 to 2003 in class). * indicates the driver led at least one lap (1 point awarded – between 1998 and 2002 only in feature races; from 2003 onwards all races).

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
1997 Williams Renault
Dealer Racing 		Renault Laguna DON
1
2 		DON
2
Ret 		SIL
1
10 		SIL
2
3 		THR
1
Ret 		THR
2
7 		BRH
1
3 		BRH
2
5 		OUL
1
2 		OUL
2
4 		DON
1
4 		DON
2
Ret 		CRO
1
2 		CRO
2
4 		KNO
1
Ret 		KNO
2
5 		SNE
1
4 		SNE
2
1 		THR
1
7 		THR
2
6


Full World Touring Car Championship Results

(Legend) (Events shown in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics represent fastest lap)

Year Team Vehicle 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Final Standing Points Earned
2005 SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra ITA
1 		ITA
2 		FRA
1 		FRA
2 		GBR
1
8 		GBR
2
2 		SMR
1
11 		SMR
2
8 		MEX
1
11 		MEX
2
12 		BEL
1
9 		BEL
2
14 		GER
1 		GER
2 		TUR
1 		TUR
2 		ESP
1 		ESP
2 		MAC
1 		MAC
2 		15th place 10 points

Full V8 Supercar Championship Results

(Legend) (Bold font indicates pole position) (Italic font indicates fastest lap)

Year Team Vehicle Model Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 Round 11 Round 12 Round 13 Overall Position Total Points
2000 Holden Racing Team Holden VT Commodore PHI PTH ADL ECK HDV CAN QLD WIN OPK CDR QLD SAN style="background:#dfffdf;" |BAT
10 		33rd place !120 points
2004 Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore ADL ECK PUK HDV PTH QLD WIN OPK style="background:#dfffdf;" |SAN
14 		style="background:#EFCFFF;" |BAT
Ret 		SUR SYM ECK !58th place 140 points


Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Vehicle Co-driver Result Completed Laps
1997* Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna Template:Country data SUITemplate:Namespace detect showall Alain Menu Did Not Finish 114
2000 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Holden Racing Team Holdon Commodore VT Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Yvan Muller 10th place 159
2004 Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VY Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Peter Brock Did Not Finish 27

* Super Touring event

External links

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