Plato fastest, then crashes in free practice
Jason Plato set the pace in the first Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship free practice session at Thruxton this morning, but then crashed at the Club chicane, causing the session to be red flagged.
The Team BMR driver set a time of 1.17.575, seven hundredths ahead of BMW's Andy Priaulx, but then got a puncture heading for the final chicane and, once on the slippery grass on the outside of the corner, slid helplessly to wards the barrier.
Plato's team-mate Colin Turkington was third fastest, ahead of Honda's Gordon Shedden and Adam Morgan in the Wix Racing Mercedes.