Jason Plato facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Jason Plato
Plato at the Knockhill round of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship
Nationality	British
Born	(1967-10-14) 14 October 1967 (age 57) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season	1997
Current team	Rich Energy BTC Racing
Racing licence	FIA Silver
Car no.	11
Former teams	Williams Renault Vauxhall SEAT Sport UK Silverline Chevrolet MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing
Starts	659
Championships	2 (2001, 2010)
Wins	97
Podiums	233
Poles	51
Fastest laps	86
Previous series
2005 2002 1996 1990–91, 1995 1992 1991	WTCC ASCAR Renault Spider Cup Formula Renault GB British F3 Formula Renault Eurocup
Championship titles
2001, 2010 1996 1991	BTCC Renault Spider Cup Formula Renault Eurocup

Jason Plato (born October 14, 1967) is a famous British racing driver. He last raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. Jason is a two-time BTCC Champion, winning in 2001 with Vauxhall and in 2010 with Silverline Chevrolet. He has finished in the top 3 of the championship an amazing 12 times! He also holds the record for the most race wins in the BTCC. Besides racing, Jason has been a presenter on the TV show Fifth Gear since 2004.

Racing Career Highlights
About Jason's Life
Other Projects
Images for kids
See also

Racing Career Highlights

Jason Plato started his racing journey with great success in karting. In 1989, he even won the British Championship in the Junior TKM Class. After that, he moved on to race in Formula Three and Formula Renault. In 1996, he won the Renault Spider championship, showing off his amazing driving skills.

Early BTCC Years (1997–2001)

Joining Williams Renault (1997–1999)

In 1997, Jason joined the Williams-Renault team in the BTCC. This was a big step! He earned his spot after a special test arranged by Sir Frank Williams. Jason was so determined that he convinced Sir Frank to give him the chance.

In his very first three races with the Renault Laguna, Jason started from the front (pole position). He won two races in his first year and finished 3rd in the championship. His teammate, Alain Menu, won the championship that year. Jason then finished 5th in the series for the next two years.

Success with Vauxhall (2000–2001)

Plato driving for Vauxhall at Brands Hatch during the 2001 British Touring Car Championship season.

Jason moved to Vauxhall in 2000 and again finished 5th in the championship. In 2001, the BTCC had new rules that made racing cars less expensive. Vauxhall had the best car that year. Jason had a tough but exciting season and won the championship! This happened after his teammate, Yvan Muller, had a car fire in the final race.

Taking a Break from BTCC (2002–2003)

Jason wanted to try NASCAR racing, so in 2002, he joined the British ASCAR series. He finished 3rd in the championship driving a Ford Taurus.

In 2003, he worked as a driver coach for SEAT. He then returned to the BTCC with the SEAT team in 2004.

BTCC Return and More Wins (2004–Present)

Driving for SEAT (2004–2008)

Plato, at Donington Park during the 2005 British Touring Car Championship.

When SEAT started a BTCC team in 2004, Jason was the perfect choice to lead it. Their new SEAT Toledo car needed some work to become a winner. Even so, Jason won seven races that year and finished 3rd in the championship.

In 2005, the rules changed, and other cars like Matt Neal's Team Dynamics Honda and Yvan Muller's Vauxhall were very fast. Jason finished 4th in the championship with three wins.

Plato driving for SEAT at the Oulton Park round of the 2006 British Touring Car Championship.

For the 2006 season, Jason continued with SEAT and their new León car. He won two races at Brands Hatch and finished 2nd in the championship. This meant he had now finished in every position from 1st to 5th in the championship!

Plato driving for SEAT at the Oulton Park round of the 2007 British Touring Car Championship.

In 2007, Jason started strong by winning the first two races. He had a close fight for the title with Fabrizio Giovanardi from Vauxhall. Giovanardi won the championship by just 3 points. Jason said that Fabrizio was a "very worthy champion."

In 2008, the team switched to a diesel-powered León. Jason got the first win for a diesel car in the BTCC at Donington Park. He won two more races at Snetterton. However, mechanical problems stopped him from winning the championship. He finished 3rd overall.

RML Chevrolet (2009–2011)

Plato driving the diesel-powered SEAT León at Oulton Park during the 2008 British Touring Car Championship season.

Plato finished 2nd in the 2009 British Touring Car Championship with Chevrolet

SEAT left the BTCC at the end of 2008, but Jason found a new team. In 2009, he joined RML Group in a Chevrolet Lacetti. At the last race of the season at Brands Hatch, Jason won all three races! He became only the second driver ever to do this. He finished 2nd in the championship, just 5 points behind the winner.

In 2010, RML became an official Chevrolet team, and Jason drove the Cruze. He won two races at Snetterton and took the championship lead. He kept winning and became the 2010 BTCC Champion! This win was also his 60th, matching a BTCC record.

Jason stayed with the team in 2011 and won the first race of the season, setting a new BTCC record with 61 victories. He finished 3rd in the championship that year.

MG KX Momentum Racing (2012–2014)

From 2012 to 2014, Jason raced for the Triple Eight Race Engineering (United Kingdom) team in their MG6 car. He finished 3rd in the championship in both 2012 and 2013. In 2014, he came in 2nd place in the championship.

Team BMR (2015–2018)

Plato, at the Knockhill round of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship.

In 2015, Jason joined Team BMR. He won 6 races but just missed out on the championship title by four points.

In 2016, Team BMR started using Subaru Levorg cars. After some early challenges, Jason's team improved the car. He earned 9 podium finishes and won a race at Knockhill, which was his 500th race! He continued with the team in 2017, but a crash early in the season caused problems with his car for most of the year. Still, he managed to get four podium finishes, including another win at Knockhill.

In 2018, the team changed engines, hoping to fix past problems. However, this change made the car perform worse. Jason struggled and only managed one podium finish all season, a 2nd place at Croft. He finished 27th in the standings.

Power Maxed Racing (2019–2021)

In 2019, Jason switched to Power Maxed Racing and drove a Vauxhall Astra. He finished 7th in the championship and won the final race of the season.

The team didn't compete full-time in 2020, but Jason returned in 2021. The Vauxhall car had some issues, but Jason still got one podium finish at Thruxton and ended the year in 14th place.

BTC Racing (2022)

In 2022, Jason Plato joined BTC Racing for what he announced would be his last season in the BTCC. He finished the year in 17th place, with one podium finish at Snetterton.

Other Racing Adventures

Jason also competed in the Bathurst 1000 twice and the Sandown 500 once, which are big races in Australia. In 1998, he took part in a rally sprint, finishing 9th.

In 2005, he raced in four rounds of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for SEAT Sport. He even finished 2nd in a race at his home track, Silverstone. He also won a race and finished 2nd overall in the 2005 European Touring Car Cup.

Jason enjoys historic racing and often races at events like the Goodwood Revival.

Television Work

Jason Plato is a co-presenter on the British TV show Fifth Gear on Channel 5. He works with other presenters like Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson. Before that, he co-presented 'Driven' on Channel 4.

In 2007, Jason was involved in an incident while filming for Fifth Gear. A very fast car he was driving caught fire. He described his injuries, saying his neck, face, and hands were burned. He received treatment at three hospitals, including a special burns unit. Amazingly, he was still able to compete in the next BTCC race weekend!

Jason also presented the Sky One show Mission Implausible, where he and Tania Zaetta competed to do cool stunts.

His Book

On September 19, 2019, Jason Plato released his first autobiography. It's called How Not to Be a Professional Racing Driver.

About Jason's Life

Jason Plato was born in Oxford, England. He went to Chillingham Road Primary School and King's School in Tynemouth. He is married to Sophie, and they have two daughters named Alena and Zia.

Other Projects

Jason is an ambassador for several brands, including Tesco Momentum 99 Fuel. He also runs a marketing company called Brand Pilot Ltd. In 2021, it was announced that his podcast, "Fuelling Around," which he hosts with Dave Vitty, would return for a second series. They even held their first live show!