■Silverline Chevrolet Team enjoys good points haul■Neal slips to third, as Onslow-Cole mounts challenge

Jason Plato held on to his lead in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in an afternoon of mixed fortunes for the Silverline Chevrolet Racing Team.

In the first of the day’s three races, the two Silverline Chevrolets provided first-class entertainment for the circuit’s large crowd as they battled for third position, with Plato fending off several challenges from 19-year old MacDowall to take the podium position.

The third place was sufficient for Plato – who was running a maximum ballast of 45kg - to further increase his lead in the championship, with Matt Neal’s Honda struggling on the fast Silverstone Circuit, managing only eighth overall. That left Plato 27 points clear of Neal heading into the second of the Silverstone races.

Race Two proved to be even more entertaining for the Silverstone fans – a start line incident involving Paul O’Neill affected MacDowall, who recovered to score a second points position and come home in ninth overall, while Plato recovered from a poor start to bring the Cruze home in fourth place, extending his lead to 29 points.

But a frustrating third race, which saw Plato and Neal involved in a controversial sideways tussle at Copse Corner, put the championship leader out of contention. He recovered well from 17th to bring the Cruze – proudly displaying its 5-Year Promise livery – home in 9th position overall, but Neal came in fourth to claw back some of his disadvantage.

There was further frustration for 19-year old Alex MacDowall – he was hit from behind by Martyn Depper’s BMW on the start line, but drove a solid race to still bring the Chevrolet Cruze home in the points, finishing 10th overall.

A solid afternoon’s performance from Tom Onslow-Cole in the Ford Focus saw the youngster bypass Matt Neal to slot in behind Plato in the championship, but he remains 14 points adrift going into the next round.

“I’m really pleased with our guys and with the car, we needed to use this weekend to stretch our legs and maximise our championship lead – and that’s something we accomplished over Neal in the Honda,” said Plato.

The BTCC takes in Scotland next, with Rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the Series at Knockhill, Fife, on Sunday September 5.

Driver Standings after Round 21

Jason Plato                            171Tom Onslow-Cole                   157Matt Neal                                148Gordon Shedden                     138Tom Chilton                            127Stephen Kane                          118

Manufacturers/Constructors Standings after Round 21

Team Dynamics/Honda          390Arena/Ford                              368Silverline Chevrolet/RML     317