Plato Racing Team Principal Jason Plato was encouraged by the performances of Adam Morgan and Daniel Rowbottom in Snetterton’s British Touring Car Championship races, but admitted that he feels the team’s Mercedes is lacking in straight line speed.
The team delivered its strongest weekend in the BTCC to-date at the Norfolk venue last weekend, with both Morgan and Rowbottom scoring a pair of top six finishes and finishing all three races in the points.
In scorching conditions, Rowbottom and Morgan finished fifth and seventh respectively in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying race, giving them a solid starting position for Sunday.
Whilst Rowbottom then bolted on the soft tyre for the opening race to take the finish in sixth, Morgan had the less favourable rubber, along with an engine issue, and took the finish outside the top ten in 11th.
Following an engine change for race two, Morgan enjoyed a surge in performance and finished in fifth, just ahead of team-mate Rowbottom in sixth, both drivers running on the soft compound tyre.
That gave the duo third and second respectively on the grid for the reverse-grid final race, where Rowbottom had to run the slower medium tyre.
Whilst Morgan challenged in second early in the race, the pair later fell down the order to sixth and tenth respectively at the chequered flag, with Team Principal Plato believing the cause to be in part a lack of power down the long straights which are crucial at Snetterton.
“We’re obviously not going to be happy until we’re winning races but we can be pleased with how this weekend has gone, and credit to both Dan and Adam as they drove really well,” said Plato.
“We’ve made a big step forward with the chassis and part of that has come from us spending the day at Multimatic where we really dialled in on some key areas that we think can unlock more performance for us.
“Of course, having a good chassis is only as good as having some grunt down the straights and at the moment, I think everyone can see that we’re lacking in that area a little. Hopefully there will be a recalibration on that but in the meantime we’ll continue working hard and chipping away.”
Rowbottom admitted that he felt he used the medium tyre in the wrong race, although his trio of top ten results has moved him up to 14th overall in the drivers’ standings.
“It’s been a steady weekend in terms of results but I’m pleased that we’ve been able to move the car forward,” said the 37-year-old. “We’ve got a clear direction on where to take things now so hopefully this is just the start.
“Races one and two were pretty eventful really but we obviously used the soft tyre in both of them, which left us with the slower medium for when it ironically really mattered in race three, starting on the front row.
“We had some good pace in those opening few laps and I tried to stick my nose where Gordon [Shedden] left a gap but when the softs came into their operating window I couldn’t match them. I let Adam go and tried to hold off the others but it was always going to be a tough ask to stay at the front.”
Morgan admitted to being frustrated about missing out on a first podium since joining the team at the start of the year.
“It’s probably been our strongest race day of the season so far but I’ve ended the weekend feeling a bit ‘meh’ as we had a chance to be on the podium in that final race,” admitted the Lancashire ace.
“In race one we had an issue with the engine and credit to the team for getting a new one in the car for race two, especially given how hot it was. To then come from 11th to fifth was mega and that put us on the second row for the finale.
“Through the corners the car was really hooked up but everything we gained there, we lost down the straights.
“I’m proud of how me and the team performed, it just would have been nice to come away with a little bit more. Still though, we’re moving in the right direction and that’s a positive.”