Plato walks away from high-speed crash

British Touring Car champion and presenter of Channel Five motoring show Fifth Gear, Jason Plato walked away unscathed from a dramatic and scary-looking crash this afternoon at Donington Park.

     Plato, driving a Chevrolet Cruize was clipped by the Airwaves Ford of Liam Griffin just moments into the start of the second of the day's three race meetings.  The most successful driver in BTCC history was powerless to prevent his car careering into the gravel trap, before submerging a grass bank at the high-speed Craner Curves.  Although he hit the bank at an acute angle, his car flipped into a serious of dramatic barrel-rolls, before coming to rest in the pit.

     The defending champion, who was trying to salvage something from a disappointing meeting, having had his first race ruined by a puncture, unbuckled himself from the wreckage of his Chevrolet and walked away uninjured, to the relief of his wife, family and team.  The car was completely destroyed however.

     However, less than four hours later, the mechanics did an amazing repair job to get their man out for the final event of the day and Plato charged through to a stunning sixth place finish.

     Who said motor racing drivers had no brains?  After this, there is one thing that Jason Plato has and that's plenty of courage after walking away from one of the most dramatic crashes in the history of the British Touring Car Championship.

2011 Autosport International Show Review - Back to its best

AFTER last year’s disappointing and lacklustre affair, the Autosport International Show returned to its action-packed and breathtaking best.  The exhibition, held at the newly renamed LG Arena (the NEC) in Birmingham on 15 – 16 January produced plenty of thrills and spills, that would whet the appetite of anyone motor racing fan.  I went to experience the event on Saturday, and came away delighted with the whole day.

CHAMPION: Lewis Hamilton's winning 2008 car was on show

First stop was the exhibition of world championship winning cars by the McLaren Formula One team.  From the early days of Bruce McLaren, all the cars were shown to the public in stunning detail.  Amongst them were the first winning world championship car, driven by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974, the beasts that were designed which saw Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost dominant the late 80’s, all the way through to Lewis Hamilton’s world championship winning car in 2008.  The public were allowed to get fairly close and personal to these monsters, and all credit has to go to McLaren for allowing fans to experience the intensity of what a winning Grand Prix racing car looks like.

SEXY: Lotus Renault's new F1 challenger looks stunning

McLaren may be a championship frontrunner for the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship, but it will take something special to overhaul Renault for the title of F1’s sexiest car of the year.  With official backing from Lotus, the cracking black and gold colour, synonymous with the Lotus team in the 1980’s is back for the new season.  It will be driven by Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov, and although it wasn’t the official launch, Lotus Renault showed off its new model, which looks stunning and breathtaking.  As this was a new car, access was limited – but the breathtaking pictures suggest that it will be one to watch – in many different ways.  In Kubica’s talented hands, I predict it will be a winner too.

DEMONSTRATION: The Virgin Racing pitwall was a starring spectacle

Last year’s dismal Autosport show was lifted by the appearance of the Formula One world champion, Jenson Button.  This year, motorsport stars were few and far between.  BBC F1’s anchorman Jake Humphrey and new main commentator Martin Brundle were in attendance.  Martin was quick to deny the media reports of a personality clash with Jonathan Legard, which led to Legard’s departure from the BBC team in midweek.  BTCC champion Jason Plato, 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter and sportscar aces Tom Kristensten and Allan McNish were the other picks.  Virgin Racing also allowed fans the chance to sit on their pitwall, play with some of the technical buttons and experience what the engineers go through during an everyday F1 race weekend.  I spoke to an employee from the team, who gave me a lot of useful information.  I asked him the validity of the pitwall, which he confirmed; “After the show, we will take down the wall, change the electrics and give the screens a dust and then, it is off to Valencia for the first pre-season test in three weeks time.”

SPONSORED: Fifth Gear put on a great show at the Live Action Arena

Plato went onto present the action from the Live Action Arena.  Sponsored by Channel Five, it was a show for those who are fans of Fifth Gear.  Plato was alongside the boring, useless Tiff Needell, with the glamour girl Vicky Butler-Henderson setting a series of challenges for the male stars to compete in.  In the show I went to, which I got front row seats for!  Needell got the better of Plato 2-1 in the challenges, but that sounded like a fluke, as people had been telling me that Plato had thrashed him all day.  This proved why Jason Plato stars on the British Touring Car circuit and why Tiff Needell is only a clueless TV presenter.  Sadly, he is nowhere near the class of Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.  Nevertheless, the banter between the pair was well worth the entrance fee.  Once they disappeared, the crowd were treated to stunts from Terry Grant, and three-wheel racing from the likes of ‘Walliams,’ ‘McLauren’ and ‘Red Ball!’  By far, it was the best live action arena experience I’ve ever had.

LETDOWN: The F1 Racing Grid was the main disappointment

In previous years, there has been a lot of content at the LG Arena, but a lot of half-hearted attempts from manufacturers.  This year, the only main letdown was the F1 Racing Grid.  The cars of Ferrari, Sauber and Hispania were missing, making in half incomplete and by being sealed off, it made the exhibit very difficult for fans to take photographs of.  The F1 Racing Grid has been a dismal letdown for many years now, and I don’t think it will meet the highs of cars hanging from the walls, like they did in 2007.  Maybe they should do like the World Rally Championship, and scrap this display, because it isn’t getting any better.

That aside, it was a great day and a great event.  Last year, I left feeling very short changed and disappointed.  This year, it was totally value for money and a great experience.  I will be back in 2012 to visit again, but first – here’s to a classic motorsport season in 2011! 

© HappyDude88 2011 (All pictures and text is copyrighted under the name of HappyDude88 2011)