Having planned to try a new set-up on its Leon TDi at
Donington Park,
Jason Plato quickly showed that SEAT is moving in the right direction after qualifying second for the third round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season.
Plato was close to the pace throughout the day on a circuit that has never traditionally been kind to the petrol-powered Leon and the 2001 champion posted the fourth and second quickest times during the two free practice sessions.
Heading into qualifying, the new dad was then able to get consistently quicker as the session went on, although his best time was just 0.079secs behind polesitter
Tom Onslow-Cole.
"I'm really pleased to have qualified on the front row," he said. "The balance of the car is still not perfect, but we're certainly heading in the right direction. We're making good progress and it's important for us to keep pushing to find that perfect set-up.
"We've tried a few new things today to reduce the car's understeer and we've put the Leon TDi on the front row. When we get the balance right, I'm sure we'll be able to get our first pole with it."
Team-mate Darren Turner will line up directly behind Plato on the grid in fourth place although his session ended prematurely when a suspected high pressure fuel leak forced him to pull off the circuit as a precaution – with his early 'banker' lap eventually being the one that secured him a slot on the second row of the grid.
"I was happy with my first flying lap, but that was just supposed to be a banker to make sure I was somewhere in the top half of the grid," he said. "We made some changes to the rear suspension and damper settings for my second run, but we went backwards with the car's performance. I felt then that something else wasn't quite right and on my final run fluid began to spray onto my windscreen.
