Vauxhall's Plato eyes Donington mastery

Jason Plato is a confident man as his Vauxhall Motorsport team aim to cut Alain Menu's British Touring Car Championship lead in rounds 17 and 18 at Donington today and tomorrow.

Jason Plato is a confident man as his Vauxhall Motorsport team aim to cut Alain Menu's British Touring Car Championship lead in rounds 17 and 18 at Donington today and tomorrow.

Plato, fresh from a 28-point haul at Snetterton three weeks ago, is 31 points behind Menu, while his team-mate Yvan Muller has 29 points to make up on the Ford racer.

Plato believes the Snetterton success will inspire him, Muller and Vincent Radermecker to their fastest form in the final eight races of the season giving them a chance of overhauling Menu and his fellow Mondeo drivers, Rickard Rydell and Anthony Reid.

"Snetterton was great, not just because it was good points - a win and a second - and two fastest laps, but because we bounced back from an atrocious weekend team-wise at Croft," Plato said. "We had two written-off cars and two drivers in the wars. We achieved nothing there; it was the worst weekend Vauxhall had ever had."

The Briton's last visit to Donington in April was also a nightmare for Vauxhall, but after notching the fifth-fastest testing lap at 1min 36.668sec he is optimistic of a good showing in Leicestershire this time out.