Great Scots Performance for Silverline Chevrolet

LUTON, UNITED KINGDOM – Sept 6, 2010: Series leader Jason Plato extended his advantage in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship to 20 points after an amazing afternoon for the Silverline Chevrolet BTCC team at Knockhill.

The Oxford-based driver took his 58th BTCC victory in style, piloting his 5-Year Promise-liveried Chevrolet Cruze home in first position in the last of three thrilling encounters at the Scottish circuit, with fine weather bringing record crowds to the series’ only event north of the border.

Plato started from fifth, but passed Tom Chilton on the start line after BMW driver Stephen Kane had to withdraw from the grid with mechanical problems, allowing him to run in third position into the first corner. Plato then took advantage of an error by Mat Jackson, who ran wide on the exit to Knockhill’s famous hairpin, to move into second.

With only Ford’s Tom Onslow-Cole left for Plato to pass, the safety car was deployed on Lap 10 after an accident involving David Pinkney’s Vauxhall Vectra. But after five processional laps, Plato was on fire, eventually capitalising on the Chevrolet Cruze’s better balance and handling to pass Onslow-Cole in a crowd-thrilling manoeuvre on Lap 23, which saw both drivers emerging from the chicane sideways as they battled for the racing line.

“It was a fantastically pleasing win,” said Jason. “It was so difficult to get past the Ford on Knockhill’s famously narrow and twisty track, but in the end the car proved its strength and we got the result we deserved. Once past Onslow-Cole, we could use the Chevrolet Cruze to its full advantage and prove its overall superiority.”

Plato’s victory came on the back of two solid performances for the Silverline Chevrolet Team. In Race One, the Series’ youngest driver, 19-year old Alex MacDowall, put his Chevrolet Cruze on pole position and drove a fantastic race to come home in second overall, behind Knockhill supremo Gordon Shedden, to take his first ever steps onto the podium.

“I’m thrilled,” said the Carlisle-based youngster. “Shedden and I got a break on the others and it was a fairly uneventful race upfront after that – I think our car was the strongest one out there, had Gordon not had so much local knowledge I reckon we could have easily won.”

Plato qualified fourth for race one, but dropped back to sixth overall having started the race with 45kg of race ballast.

With the ballast removed, the Cruze proved much quicker in the second of the day’s races, finishing third from sixth on the grid in a thrilling encounter that saw Plato pull off his first Ford overtake of the day, stealing the line from Tom Chilton on Lap 23 to move up into fourth, and passing Stephen Kane’s BMW on Lap 28 to claim his first podium of the day.

The second race proved a little frustrating for MacDowall, who started alongside Shedden on the front row of the grid, but missed a gear off the start line and dropped several positions. He recovered well to finish in the points, ninth overall. A solid performance in the day’s third race saw MacDowall move up into seventh from ninth on the grid, to further contribute to Silverline Chevrolet’s points tally.

The championship next moves on to Donington Park, Derbyshire, for the penultimate meeting of the 2010 season on September 19th, with the final battle for the title shaping up nicely. If you can’t wait until then, you can catch up with all the news and some exclusive behind-the-scenes images and footage of the Silverline Chevrolet racing team online at www.chevroletbtcc.co.uk, or for more information on the Chevrolet Cruze, and Chevrolet’s market-leading 5-year promise aftermarket package, visitwww.chevrolet.co.uk