Jason Plato has praised his new Chevrolet Cruze for the coming season, proudly proclaiming: “It’s even better than last year’s car, and we won the championship in that!”
The third season for Silverline Chevrolet in the BTCC will see the team opt for consistency, with the same driver pairing of Plato and youngster Alex MacDowall getting behind the wheel of the two Cruze’s. The RML-run team have upgraded to newer-spec Cruze’s, the same cars that raced in last year’s World Touring Car Championship. Sporting a new livery at last week’s media day test, the team are clearly confident about defending their driver’s title in 2011.
Chevrolet Managing Director, Mark Terry, commented: “Last year I had great pride in seeing the Chevrolet Cruze winning the BTCC driver’s title in its first full season, and this year I can’t wait to once again see the Cruze leading rival models around the track. We’ve got a great team behind us, and we’re extremely excited about our prospects for 2011. It’s Chevrolet’s centenary year, we have four major new model launches, and it’s important that our long tradition of motorsport is part of what will be one of the most significant years in our company’s history.”
MacDowall, 20, enters his second season in the BTCC brimming with confidence. At the recent media day test at Silverstone he was seventh fastest – just under half a second off the outright pace. “I’m thrilled to be driving for Silverline Chevrolet again,” he said. “The car feels brilliant. Last season was a learning curve for me – it’s fair to say nerves got the better of me a couple of times – but this year I’m much more comfortable and much more confident. I’m hoping for some good results, and hopefully a couple of wins.”
RML Sponsorship Director Rupert Mainwaring added: “It’s great to see the Silverline Chevrolet team getting such great support – it shows the broad appeal of the country’s most exciting motorsport series, and gives us a great boost as we head into what promises to be the BTCC’s most competitive season ever.”
In addition to operating Chevrolet’s WTCC and BTCC works programmes, RML will also provide support to Tech-Speed Motorsport in 2011 as the independent team steps up to run the two Chevrolet Cruze’s that Plato and MacDowall piloted last year.