Thinking About Plato

Here's Plato, in a candid shot, posing in front of a column with a statue on it.

Plato said, "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

This is what America is suffering from right now.

And the rest of the World.

He also allegedly said, "Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy."

Yep.

And then there was, "They certainly give very strange names to diseases."

OK, might have gone off at a tangent there.

"My right arm is generally quite strong."

That last one is actually Jason Plato - ex-racing driver and ex-TV presenter.

And current racing team boss.

He has started up Team Plato in less than 12 months and intends to start winning races in the BTCC straight away.

Very impressive.  His former Fifth Gear colleague Jonny Smith spends an hour of his YouTube Late Brake Show discussing it with him here: 

There's no sign of Jason's flat cap but he does appear to be sucking on a mint through the video which is a bit off-putting.

But, mint aside, it is fascinating stuff - for example, the Mercedes cars they are using were all originally water damaged write-offs.  And they've sourced spare bonnets from scrapyards.

Which makes it sound like they are working on a shoestring.

But they aren't.

He's got a crack team of engineers, a state-of-the-art driving simulator and some bloody expensive components.

I always look forward to the BTCC Season.  This year it kicks off tomorrow at Donington Park.  I normally support the BMWs and West Surrey Racing. Have done from before and after owning a BMW myself but, this year, the livery is a bit bland - I wonder of they are no longer a manufacturer team? And I was hoping that Colin Turkington, my favourite driver, might be rejoining their line-up but it looks like they have other plans for him.

So I think I'll be cheering on the Mercs.

"And guess what? I've never run a team before."

Murray's Looking Mint

At least he is for someone who turns 94 in nine days time:

I speak, of course, of Murray Walker.  Although he does now remind me of Waldorf from Statler & Waldorf: 

It was good to see him so spritely and knowledgeable when interviewed today on ITV4 while attending the season finale of the BTCC at Brands Hatch.

 

And what a season finale it was.

 

My favourite, Colin Turkington (actually my favourite is Colin's team-mate Rob Collard but he was recovering from a nasty crash at the previous meeting in Silverstone) went into the first of today's three races slightly behind on points but miles behind on the starting grid.  The race went badly for him and it looked like he, realistically, was out of the running at the end of the race.  He then brilliantly stormed through to win the second race and was suddenly back in contention.  Unfortunately, he got knobbled by a bit of bad luck early in the third so the 2017 BTCC Champion is: 

Congratulations and full marks to Ash who has been consistent and raced like a champion - especially since he had an uncompetitive car for the first couple of meetings - and it's only his second season racing in the BTCC.

 

Meanwhile, his more famous team-mate has had a very poor season - as I discussed back in May.

 

While Colin and Rob's other team-mate has also done relatively poorly - as I sort of predicted back in November.

 

Meanwhile, this guy has had a pretty good season:

I know he looks like a stand-up comedian there, but he is Tom Ingram.  He won the Independent Drivers Championship and came third overall in the main championship.  Which is very impressive because he drives for Speedworks - which is a teeny tiny team.

 

Congratulations, Tom - definitely not a muppet.

Musical Cars

I often see this car on the M53 Motorway on my journey to work:

Well, maybe not that actual car - because the one I see has number plates and (I hope) is road-legal and it isn't being driven by Andrew Jordan.  But it does look the same - including the full livery, the Jordan stickers and the roll-cage.

I guess it has something to do with Pirtek, the main sponsor, having a site at Ellesmere Port - a place that, if you pronounce it with the right accent, may sound like a beach resort somewhere exotic (like Jordan for example) but, in fact, isn't.

Anyway, Andrew is in the news today - BTCC News that is.

He has switched team.

Again.

I first noticed him in 2011, when he was in his very early twenties and having his first taste of success.

Since then, he won the whole British Touring Car Championship in 2013 - which is why the car above is carrying the Number 1.

He wasn't as successful in 2014 so, for 2015, he switched to the cars run by Triple Eight Racing who had previously had great success with Vauxhalls but were then running MGs without much success.

So, in 2016 he switched team - just as the MGs improved.  He was now with Motorbase as Mat Jackson's team-mate in Ford Focus STs.  I add the "ST" to avoid having to use the plural of "Focus".  He finished eighth overall (in a tightly contested contest) and won the Independent Drivers Title so was in a strong car that he had got more and more used to during the year.

So now he's moving to West Surrey Racing and their BMWs.

I refer you back to my first ever post on this Blog.