Momentum swings Plato's way

MG completes clean sweep during Dunlop tyre test at Snetterton

Jason Plato was the fastest man around the Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk yesterday  after his MG KX Momentum Racing team-mate Sam Tordoff set the pace in the first day of the Dunlop tyre test on Tuesday.The BTCC field was again out in force, with 22 drivers setting a time across the morning and afternoon sessions. The weather threw another variable into the mix today, as the early morning saw overcast conditions and cooler temperatures compared with yesterday. The two MGs were fast right from the off, but it was Plato that took the initiative and posted a time faster than anything seen in the hotter conditions on Tuesday. Tordoffs lap times were consistent, but by the end of the day, Plato had pulled a gap of almost half a second to the rest of the field. Interestingly Plato's time was clocked using the regular 2013 medium compound, whilst Tordoff set almost identical times while running both the current soft tyre and a 2014 Dunlop prototype during separate race runs.Behind the two manufacturer-backed cars it was Jack Goff who was perhaps the surprise of the day. He posted the third quickest time in the RCIB Insurance Racing Vauxhall Insignia having saved his only fresh set of tyres until conditions were ideal just before the lunch break. The reigning Renault Clio Cup UK champion was also strong in the first day of testing, and will be going into the race weekend at Snetterton in August full of confidence.The eBay Motors team worked through an extensive testing programme across the two days, with Colin Turkington in particular testing a variety of compounds to assist Dunlop with tyre development. The team also backed up the pace it showed at the most recent BTCC event at Croft, with Rob Collard setting the fourth fastest time of the day, and Turkington a couple of places further back in sixth. Turkingtons time was set in the morning session while he was using a potential 2014 compound from Dunlop.Motorbase come away from the test in good spirits having had three drivers out testing its NGTC Ford Focuses. After running extremely well the previous day, Nick Tandy once again impressed in the #4 machine, today helping the team with development on damper and chassis settings. This translated into good pace in the afternoon for both regular drivers Aron Smith and Mat Jackson who posted the fifth and eighth fastest times respectively on the Dunlop SportMaxx medium compound tyre.Pirtek Racing opted not to run any brand new tyres during testing today, and instead focused on long-runs and race simulations. Andrew Jordan completed the most laps of any driveran impressive 94, and the team is hoping this will pay dividends over a race distance when the championship arrives in Norfolk next month. Jordan was another driver who assisted Dunlop with 2014 tyre evaluations during the test.It was another busy day for Team HARD, as once again they had two new drivers testing its second Vauxhall Insignia. In the morning it was Joe Girling who took to the track, and despite issues with the alternator early on he managed to run for 30 laps. In the afternoon it was Warren Scott, who will be driving a Team HARD-prepared VW Passat for the remainder of the season, who got his first taste of NGTC machinery.The BTCC returns to Snetterton on 4/5 August for rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the championship, and the teams that tested this week will be looking to put what they have learned to good effect around the three-mile circuit.Jason Plato said: "Weve had a very good test these last two daysweve been doing a lot of race runs and we understand our car a little bit more. I think its a strong development path were going onif you look at the times both Sam and I have been quick all day long, and not just over one lap. Weve stuck to our planweve not being going out to show off, we had a strict programme of tests to go through and weve completed it which is important. Its probably the best test weve ever done."Aron Smith said: "Over the last few days weve been playing around with just about everything, which is nice because on a race meeting you dont usually have time to go over it all. Its been a problem for us all season, but now the areas that we have been struggling with were strong on, which has allowed us to focus on other areas that we havent looked at yet. Having both Nick and Mat here as well as myself has brought us on leaps and bounds by tripling our testing mileage."David Bartrum said: "Were very pleased with the daythe testing has been invaluable. Having Nick Tandy out yesterday doing some really fast running gave us some great information to use overnight and get closer to where we want to be. I think weve got a good base line for when we come back here in a few weeks time."

Jack Goff said: "Some of the things weve tried at this test have made a massive improvement to the way the car feels. The balance is really good nowits probably the best the car has ever felt. I did that time at the end on brand new tyres, and it was the first time weve run new tyres all test. Its not quite perfect yet and theres a bit more time in the bag, so well see how it goes."Colin Turkington said: "Its been very productive. Weve probably spent a day in total testing new tyres and seeing how theyll work with our car. This afternoon we really got to work on the car and have made some small gains. Everybody else seems to have moved forward tooits hard to read too much into the times though as it very much depends when you do your lap as to the performance you can extract from the car. I havent actually raced on the new layout before so its good to get my eye in around the circuit." BTCC Dunlop Tyre Test, Snetterton, 10 July, Combined Classification - Top Ten:

1 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum) 1:57.2482 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum) +0.4743 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +0.5414 Rob Collard (eBay Motors) +0.5975 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +0.7016 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +0.7347 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +0.8708 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +0.9929 Nick Tandy (Addison Lee Motorbase) +1.231 10 Mike Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +1.353