However, while the manufacturer involvement isn’t there at the moment, something series director Alan Gow is keen to address, a raft of leading Independent teams having taken up the challenge of representing other marques such as Team Halfords with its Hondas and Team RAC with its BMWs – ensuring that the BTCC remains as diverse as ever.
“I think it is a different era,” Plato admitted. “Back then there were nine or ten manufacturers, but those days are gone now because the manufacturers all own each other – so you’ll never get Ford competing against Volvo and you’ll never get Audi competing against Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda.
“In the modern era you can maybe hope for four or five manufacturers but I think the series is getting back to where it was in the 90’s. The TV deal is as good, if not better, the crowds who turn up are as good if not better and there is a buzz coming back. We have colourful characters like Fabrizio [Giovanardi] and some new blood coming through and it is a great championship.
“The names are different but a good driver is a good driver. We don’t have the international flavour now, but so what? Okay, it would be nice to have a few more foreign drivers as it gives the paddock a different feel and you get some Latin temperaments which is good for a bit of fun, but the quality at the top is as good as it ever was. It is as hard to win here as it is in the WTCC – there are just a few more ‘i’s and ‘o’s on the end of names there!”
As for the best driver he has ever raced with in the BTCC, Plato admitted that there is one, still competing – and winning – at the highest level, who stands above the rest.
![Jason Plato in action during his debut BTCC season with the Williams Renault team back in 1997 [Pic credit: Still Photographic]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/335857.jpg)
