Plato hits back to retain lead

Jason Plato will take a 17-point lead into the final round of the British Touring Car Championship after a mixed weekend at Donington Park.

The Chevrolet Cruze driver crashed out of race one after a mis-timed overtaking move on rival Matt Neal left the former champion in the barrier.

But if Plato goes on to win this year's championship, it may be race two that he looks back on as a pivotal point.

With Neal being given a drive through penalty for a false start, Plato produced an astonishing drive to finish third after starting from the back of grid.

He then rounded the day off with another podium finish in race three, although Neal maintained the pressure on the championship leader by taking the chequered flag.

"We had a fantastic car around here, and after what we did in qualifying we should have been looking for a very big haul of points," Plato told Sky Sports.

"Sometimes DNF's happen but we managed to salvage something that's was looking like a disaster."

Victory for Honda Racing's Neal in race three cut Plato's lead to 17 points, and another consistent weekend for Gordon Shedden moved him into third in the championship following victory in the opener.

A fired up Neal said after his victory: "Jason holds all the aces heading to Brands, but he will have two Hondas to worry about.

"There are no team orders between me and Gordon and we will both be gunning him down in the final races."

Shedden maintained his title thrust by taking race one ahead of Tom Chilton while the latter's Ford team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole won race two with Shedden edging out Plato for second.

The season finale is on October 10 at Brands Hatch in Kent.

Race One:
1 Gordon Shedden (Gbr) Honda 26mins 45.547secs,
2 Tom Chilton (Gbr) Ford 26:45.846,
3 Matt Jackson (Gbr) BMW 26:46.740,
4 Alex MacDowall (Gbr) Chevrolet 26:47.105,
5 Matt Neal (Gbr) Honda 26:48.336,
6 Steven Kane (Gbr) BMW 26:49.754,
7 Tom Boardman (Gbr) SEAT 26:51.408,
8 Tom Onslow-Cole (Gbr) Ford 26:51.988,
9 James Kaye (Gbr) Honda 26:52.806,
10 David Pinkney (Gbr) Vauxhall 26:53.516

Race Two:
1 Tom Onslow-Cole (Gbr) Ford 21mins 07.476secs,
2 Gordon Shedden (Gbr) Honda 21:08.411,
3 Jason Plato (Gbr) Chevrolet 21:09.018,
4 Tom Chilton (Gbr) Ford 21:15.032,
5 Matt Jackson (Gbr) BMW 21:17.712,
6 Steven Kane (Gbr) BMW 21:18.454,
7 Rob Collard (Gbr) BMW 21:18.523,
8 Matt Neal (Gbr) Honda 21:19.591,
9 Andrew Jordan (Gbr) Vauxhall 21:20.678,
10 James Nash (Gbr) Chevrolet 21:21.025

Race Three:
1 Matt Neal (Gbr) Honda 19mins 29.257secs,
2 Rob Collard (Gbr) BMW 19:33.372,
3 Jason Plato (Gbr) Chevrolet 19:35.659,
4 Steven Kane (Gbr) BMW 19:37.009,
5 Tom Chilton (Gbr) Ford 19:38.240,
6 Gordon Shedden (Gbr) Honda 19:38.557,
7 Andrew Jordan (Gbr) Vauxhall 19:39.463,
8 Matt Jackson (Gbr) BMW 19:44.549,
9 Tom Onslow-Cole (Gbr) Ford 19:49.156,
10 James Nash (Gbr) Chevrolet 19:49.203

Driver Championship Standings:
1 Jason Plato (Gbr) Chevrolet 224pts,
2 Matt Neal (Gbr) Honda 207,
3 Gordon Shedden (Gbr) Honda 203,
4 Tom Onslow-Cole (Gbr) Ford 200,
5 Tom Chilton (Gbr) Ford 171

Manufacturers Championship Standings:
1 Honda 500pts,
2 Ford 491,
3 Chevrolet 410