We were to meet in Barnard Castle, the town that Boris Johnson’s Svengali Dominic Cummings visited to test his eyesight during the Covid lockdown. The plan was to bring four of the stars of the British Touring Car Championship for an evening of beer, food and an overnight stay in a hotel. We asked the drivers to come along in a car of the brand that they drove for. We had Anthony Reid in a Ford Mondeo, James Thompson in a Honda Accord, David Leslie in a Nissan Primera and Jason Plato in a Renault Laguna. It was 1999, when the BTCC was at the peak of its popularity.
On a whim, while on the way to County Durham, I called Jason Plato just to check that he was en route. “Oh mate,” replied Plato, “James [Thompson] and I have been called to a meeting in Harrogate and we won’t be able to make it.” “That’s bullshit,” I replied, “you’re off clubbing or on hot dates. Turn around now and meet us in the hotel bar at 7pm.” A sheepish Plato with sidekick Thompson in tow duly turned up exactly at seven.
Retired from touring cars after an astonishing 23 seasons, Plato lives in Hampshire, a more mellow version of the racer I met 24 years ago. The clubbing days are long gone and his timekeeping faultless: as I pull into the car park of The Tichborne Arms, Plato is walking across the gravel.
It all started on a garage forecourt in Newcastle where Plato’s dad ran a BMW dealership. “Someone owed Dad a few hundred quid,” explains Plato, “but didn’t have it in cash so Dad took
