BTCC Brands Hatch Driver Report (part three)

Part three of our series reviewing the performances from the opening round of the 2016 BTCC. This time, we're looking at Subaru Team BMR and Power Maxed Racing.

Jason Plato: It's fair to say that Jason Plato is more than a little bit excited about his new car, the Subaru Levorg GT, going as far as to describe it as being the "ultimate touring car". Despite being in the championship since 1997 (except for a brief hiatus in 2003 and 2003) Plato has never raced a rear wheel drive BTCC car and this lack of experience probably hampered Plato slightly because his teammate, Colin Turkington, was faster for the majority of the weekend. Twenty third was a decent qualifying performance and the car showed steady signs of progression in race one as Plato managed to move up two places, managing a twenty first place finish, out of the points but decent enough. Soft tyres for race two saw a minor breakthrough for the team, Plato made consistent progress up to thirteenth place, the best result for the team all weekend and the first points for the new car. The soft tyre was undoubtedly of benefit to the Subaru as Plato slipped back to sixteenth place in race three. Overall it was a solid weekend for Plato and we can expect more at Donington.

Colin Turkington: The real star performer in the Subaru was Colin Turkington. A heroic effort in qualifying saw a fantastic eleventh place grid slot in what was effectively a very public test session. Unfortunately the weekend would very quickly go downhill, contact in race one saw Turkington retire on lap twenty, a disappointing end to a solid run. Race two would see a solid effort from the Northern Irishman rewarded with a decent twentieth position, no points but plenty of crucial data for the team. With soft tyres on his car, race three was where Turkington showed his true class, a fantastic drive saw a fantastic twelfth place finish. If it weren't for the retirement in race one then it's possible Turkington could of achieved a lot more, but it was a solid weekend and the only was is up for Team BMR and the Northern Irishman.

James Cole: We've never really been able to see the best of James Cole, he's either been in uncompetitive machinery or missed out on half the season due to a lack of budget. This year should be interesting as Cole has every chance to match his more experienced teammates. Qualifying perhaps didn't go as planned, down in twenty ninth, but after that it was a decent weekend. A solid run in race two culminated in a twenty fifth place result, not ideal but certainly not bad. Another strong drive in race two saw another gain of six positions which lead to a nineteenth place finish. On the soft tyres for race three, Cole wasn't quite able to achieve the same charge as teammate Turkington, but eighteenth was still a decent result in the new car. Cole has shown his potential, now all he needs is a bit more pace.

Warren Scott: The brainchild of Team BMR is now entering his fourth season in the BTCC and it's clear to see that he's constantly improving as a driver. Twenty seventh in qualifying wasn't too bad especially considering that he was less than three tenths behind Plato. Unfortunately, problems with the car would prevent Scott from starting race one meaning he wasn't even classified in the finishing order. From thirty second on the grid in race two, Scott managed an absolutely fantastic charge up to twenty first place, an incredible effort that helped to prove the initial pace of the Subaru. Similarly to teammate Cole, Scott was not able to put in a charge on soft tyres like Plato and Turkington managed. Two places gained on the soft tyre in race three resulted in a nineteenth place finish. His pace throughout the weekend was fairly decent and as the new car gets quicker Scott's results should improve.

Hunter Abbott is undeniably the top driver in this years line up at Power Maxed Racing but it's been a long time since Abbott has raced a front wheel drive car. Qualifying started off with a fairly decent result in twenty first, not electrifying but less than one second off pole isn't too bad. Contact and a spin would see race one come to an end just a few laps away from the start, but from here Abbott could show his true pace. An absolutely fantastic drive in race two saw Abbott storm up the field into a points finish in fifteenth, this was an incredible performance and was arguably one of the drives of the weekend. There was a bit more progress in race three, armed with soft tyre he finished thirteenth and in the points once more. As Abbott gains more experience his results should improve, Donington seems to suit the Chevrolet so he could be a potential dark horse in race three.

Kelvin Fletcher: The actor turned racing driver made his BTCC début at Brands Hatch and it turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag in terms of results. Last of the qualifiers wasn't an ideal start to the weekend but he was only a few tenths behind fellow rookie Mark Howard. Fletcher wasn't able to get the most out of the soft tyres due to his retirement in race one but until then he had slowly but steadily been fighting his was up the field. Race two saw an impressive drive up to twenty fifth place, not too bad for his first weekend. This was a fairly solid drive considering Fletcher's lack of experience compared to some of the cars around him. Unfortunately race three would see another retirement, this time due to a spin on cold tyres. Two retirements is perhaps a little disappointing but Fletcher has shown his potential and his results should improve in time.

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