http://www.racingsilverline.co.uk/news/The lastest headlines.- Amazing drive at Silverstone, but it isn’t enough- Silverline Chevrolets take 2nd and 4th in final BTCC race- Puncture puts paid to championship dreamsJason Plato put in one of the best drives of his career in the second of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Silverstone, but despite climbing 18 places it wasn’t enough to secure the championship title for the Oxford-based ace.A puncture on lap 11 of the first of the day’s three races jeopardised the reigning champion’s chances, despite a remarkable comeback over the past two meetings at Brands Hatch and Rockingham.Plato gave it his best shot, climbing from 25th on the grid to reach an astonishing 7th overall in the second of the day’s races in a bid to keep his dream alive, but his decisive, clinical drive wasn’t enough to beat Matt Neal to the title.“We had some pretty bad luck,” Plato said.  “But that’s racing, and we always knew Silverstone would be difficult as it’s impossible to overtake the turbocharged cars on fast circuits. We know we’ve got a great car and Silverline Chevrolet/RML are the best team in the business, we gave it our best, and we took it to the final meeting – a lot of people weren’t expecting that.”The third of the day’s races folded more in the Silverline Chevrolet team’s favour – the reverse grid system putting Alex MacDowall on pole and JP third on the grid. A slow start from MacDowall saw Tom Chilton take advantage, but he still managed a solid fourth, while Plato gained a place to take the second step on the podium.Plato’s team-mate finished in the points in all of the day’s three races – seventh in Race One and ninth in Race Two – a solid result for the 20-year old Cumbrian.For more information and reaction to the conclusion of the 2011 British Touring Car Championship visit www.chevroletbtcc.co.uk, or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/chevroletbtccThe Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship returns in 2012, with the first meeting at Brands Hatch, Kent, on April 1.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=55Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMTA scorching performance to match the hottest October sunshine on record saw Jason Plato keep his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship dreams alive, with back-to-back victories in the day’s first two races at Brands Hatch.The Oxford-based racer not only won the first two races in pure textbook style,leading from the first corner to the very end, but he also added to his points tally withan amazing pole position on Saturday, scoring the fastest ever qualifying time on the Brands Hatch GP Circuit. New lap records in both the first and second races meant an astonishing points haul, lifting him from 24 points adrift of Honda Racing’s Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden to just five points by the end of the day’s proceedings.Both Hondas suffered punctures in the first race of the day, meaning they finished out of the points, leaving the door wide open for Plato to take advantage, achieving his seventh and eight victories of the season.“We’ve got the car set-up just perfectly,” said Plato. “It was unbeatable out theretoday, thanks in no small part to the fine-tuning we did in free practice. It was amazing in qualifying, amazing during the races, and the performance really shows why the team at RML are the best in the business for preparing Touring Cars. Despite the challenges we’ve faced this year, the Cruze is the best Touring Car I’ve ever driven, and the hard work we’ve put into the set-up has really paid dividends.”The incredible comeback leaves the championship wide open heading into the finalround of the 2011 season, which takes place at Silverstone, Northants, on SundayOctober 16.“Realistically, it’s going to be a tough challenge,” said Plato. “The high speed natureof Silverstone will allow the turbo cars to run at full throttle, which will make things alittle difficult for us, but if it rains then anything could happen.”Meanwhile, Plato’s team-mate, Alex Macdowall, had a fantastic first race, with the 20-year old Cumbrian bringing his Cruze home in third position, having held second all race until a suspected puncture in the final lap made him give way to Mat Jackson’s Ford Focus.But Alex’s luck wasn’t to hold, after a rare mechanical failure in the second of theday’s races saw him retire whilst running fourth.The third race saw Plato start from 10th on the grid thanks to the BTCC’s reverse-grid system, with Alex bringing up the rear after retiring from Race 2. A gearbox fault led Alex to retire on Lap 7, but Plato battled through the field, initially picking off Nick Foster’s BMW and Tom Onslow-Cole’s Ford, before an incident involving AndyNeate’s Ford Focus and Tom Boardman’s SEAT allowed Plato to capitalise, finishing sixth overall.The finish tees up the BTCC for one of its closest ever season-closers, as the series heads to the home of the British Grand Prix on October 16. In the meantime, to keep up with all the latest news from the BTCC, along with the progress of the Silverline Chevrolet team, visit www.rmlmallock.co.uk, www.chevroletbtcc.com &amp www.silverlinetools.com/racingsilverline or follow the team on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/rmlmallock.com and www.twitter.com/rmlgrouphttp://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=54Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMTA superb qualifying session and a textbook victory in the first of the Rockingham races in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship have helped keep reigning champion Jason Plato’s championship title hopes alive as the season heads towards its climax.Despite some controversy during Saturday’s qualifying session, the Oxfordshire-based ace put the RML-prepared Silverline Chevrolet Cruze on pole position to lead Race One from start to finish at the Northamptonshire circuit. And it was a Chevrolet Cruze 1-2, with independent driver Paul O’Neill bringing his privately entered Cruze home in second, his best result of the season.The first race wasn’t so lucky for Plato’s team mate, 20-year old Alex MacDowall. The Cumbrian driver was heading for a solid points finish, but tangled with Andy Neate’s Ford Focus on lap 8, somehow managing to recover his Cruze from what could have been a massive high-speed accident to avoid further collision.Race Two was always going to be a challenge, with Rockingham’s fast home straight and NASCAR-style oval turns limiting the first race winner’s acceleration, thanks to 45kg of success ballast. Plato was immediately put under pressure by the two turbocharged Hondas, which were carrying no success ballast, but remained in contention throughout to finish a solid fourth.But it was further frustration for his young team-mate. Having started from 15th on the grid, MacDowall had climbed to 10th overall before he was pushed into a spin by Rob Austin’s Audi on the unlucky 13th of the race’s 16 laps.Race Three saw another stunning drive from Plato, passing four cars, including both Hondas, in one manoeuvre and then edging ahead of Jeff Smith on Lap 7 to finish 5th overall, from a mid-table start. Critically, Plato finished ahead of both Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who scored no points in the day’s final race, to edge closer to contention in the title. MacDowall’s race was, thankfully, uneventful and he finished 11th overall.Plato now trails championship leader Gordon Shedden by 24 points, with a maximum of 104 points available from the last two meetings of the season, at Brands Hatch, Kent, on October 2 and Silverstone, Northants, on October 16. http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=53Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMTJason Plato has been appointed a board Director of the BRDC at last week’s AGM at the Club’s home at Silverstone Circuit.North-East raised Jason Plato the reigning BTCC champion starts his tenure with immediate effect. “The BRDC is the stalwart institution of the racing fraternity in this country and has been a constant throughout my career,” said the 43-year old, who now lives in Oxford. “To be nominated and voted as a Director is not only a real accolade but it also gives me a tremendous sense of involvement.”“The BRDC has over the years provided me with much inspiration and support and I have been fortunate to have received their Silver Star award a record five times.”“I’m looking forward to contributing towards the various and notable programmes the BRDC has instigated ranging from encouraging young talent and playing an active part in the future of Silverstone ensuring it remains the key racing circuit in the UK combining tradition with a head-of-the-curve initiatives.  I am particularly interested in recognising young talent nurturing, mentoring and assisting them to develop into all-encompassing drivers with recognisable brands and business acumen.” concludes Plato.Newly appointed President Derek Warwick replaces Damon Hill OBE and comments on Plato’s appointment “Jason will be an asset for the Club Committee where he replaces me and a very valued member of the board.  Having worked with him this last year or so though he may have a reputation as a joker, trust me he has a very dedicated, focused, determined &amp serious side to him  and these are all desirable qualities for the Club.  I will enjoy working alongside him.”BRDCThe Club was inaugurated early in 1928, with 25 members and a clear set of objectives. These were to promote the interests of motor sport generally to celebrate any specific performance in motor sport to extend hospitality to racing drivers from overseas and to further the interests of British drivers competing abroad. Silverstone Circuits Limited promote a number of major international race meetings at Silverstone, including the British Grand Prix, plus rounds of the FIA GT Championships, The British Touring Car Championship, Le Mans Series, British Superbike, British F3-GT and, from 2010, the MotoGP World Championship.As a Club, the BRDC has grown to become the most prestigious motor racing club in the world and today, membership totals over 800. AboutJason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British racing driver currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Silverline Chevrolet.  He is the reigning BTCC champion having previously won the series in 2001 when driving for Vauxhall.  He has finished in the top 3 in the championships 8 times and holds the record for the most overall race wins (65) in the BTCC, the most podiums, pole positions and fastest laps. Jason started his career in Karting in 1980 at the age 12 and was British champion in 1981 before moving on to Formula Renault where he was the European Champion Formula Renault.  He won the Renault Spider Championships in 1996 and was offered a drive by Sir Frank Williams in 1997 in the Renault Laguna at BTCC claiming pole position in his first three races. Other notable accolades include five times BRDC Silver Star winner, two times Autosport National Racing Driver of the Year winner and the World’s Best Touring Car Driver as voted by the fans of Touring Car times.He is also a presenter on the motoring series Fifth Gear. Other TV Credits include: Driven (C4), Speed Sunday (ITV1), Mission Implausible (SKY1) and he is a columnist for various national newspapers.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=52Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMTWhat a Championship it has been this year. With this A-Fuel car anything is possible, even consistent results. Once you have a handle on matching the car’s performance to the track conditions.Our ability to do this showed a marked improvement as the year proceeded. The new track Tierp in Sweden showed us that! With a track capable of taking the power we can make, the result was a new European record 5.29 et “first into the 5.20s”. Hockenheim demonstrated a further advance in our ability to get one of these cars down a tricky track (ask Derek Flynn). We managed No.1 qualifier fastest time of the weekend and set the second quickest time as well by tuning our way around the “very” difficult right lane.All this time Fred Hansenn and his tuner Will Hanna had been matching our performance run by run and building a championship points lead. As we increased our ability to tune our car this ding dong battle went down to the final race of the championship at Santa Pod with the Silverline dragster holding a narrow 9 point lead over Fred.Pro-Test DayAs there was an opportunity to test at Santa Pod the Wednesday before the race we took advantage of that to try to refine our tune up for the track conditions there. Well what a good job we did, as on arrival at the track  we got a real shock to find the track up to the startline had been relaid and was really just virgin asphalt. As our rear tyres are some 20 feet back behind the startline this looked like it would be really difficult until the new asphalt could get enough rubber on it to match the existing track. Unfortunately despite the heroic efforts of the track crew during the whole race they never did manage to get the two different surfaces to match. The result with our car on our first test run was instant tyre shake which we initially thought was a result of the track’s condition, but once the data was analysed after the run a problem in the ignition system was found to be a contributing factor also. As fixing the problem took up most of the day that had to be our one and only test run.  Not a very successful start!! But better to find a problem testing than on qualifying or race day.Qualifying FridayWe expected qualifying to be difficult given the situation with the track and sure enough, on our first qualifier, the car made it across the new asphalt to the existing track where it started to grip hard which then distorted the tyres and started them smoking, and that was that.2nd QualifierAfter two unsuccessful tries at getting down the track, one in  testing and one in qualifying, we had to make adjustments which were way outside our normal set up, but it did at least result in a full run 5.69 et @ 261.16 mph which qualified us in 6th position and the terminal speed showed we had the power and could use it at the far end of the track but having to take so much power out in order to tiptoe across the startline just ruined our elapsed time.Saturday 3rd QualifierNow that we were qualified we felt a little more comfortable but we were a long way from being normal in terms of performance, so we changed the setup completely to see if we could achieve a better time by some other route!!  Well it worked but only ran 5.64, still not good enough.For the fourth qualifier we reverted to our more familiar setup and just made adjustments to it to try to compensate more for the track conditions. Due to some light rain in the afternoon delaying qualifying for about two hours by the time we were ready to run it was quite dark and cold which was not what we wanted at all. Then crew chief David reported to me over the radio that the track had just been sprayed in both lanes with traction compound. I think that that was what gave us our best run of the weekend. The extra grip it afforded produced a 5.52 et @ 261 mph. Not a great time but over 1 tenth quicker than we had previously managed.Race DayAll the testing and qualifying now over it was time for the final showdown. Fred Hanssen had already equalled our points score by qualifying better so we start race day, and whoever wins today wins the championship.It has to be said the odds are not with us right now!! Our A-fuel car really struggles to compete in marginal track conditions. Although we have the weekends quickest time for the A-fuel cars the blown cars seem to be able to deal with the conditions better.In the first round of eliminations we race the other half of the “Islanders Drag Race Team” Paul Ingar who has our previous car. Paul struggled quite a lot in the early part of the year but returned in Germany and has since run very well.Our tune up is unchanged from the night before, we should be safe to run 5.50 or better as compared to the previous run the air quality should be worse and the  track should be better preventing us from overpowering it.  Well it wasn’t to be! I won the battle for reaction time .079-.119 but then the tyres started to smoke, I gave it one quick pedal to recover in case Paul had a problem but he made a good run 5.48 close to his best . THAT WAS THAT!!Fred Hanssen Champion for 2011I have to say it has been a real fun year!!To be able to compete against the other TMD teams employing US tuners (Will Hanna, Howard Main, Randy Anderson and Jim Rizzoli) without having to cross the Atlantic has given the whole team a sense of major achievement in coming second.It only remains for me to thank all our friends, fans and supporters who came by our pit during the weekend for their support in the past and best wishes for the future.My thanks also have to go to all the people and companies who have given us their support and friendship over the years.Our longest running sponsor/supporter Ray Maguire / PlayStation , James and Darrell  / Silverline Tools, Tony Cohen  / American Car Imports, Malcolm Francis / Air Sea Logistics, Barry Miller / BMRS, Chase Knight / Crane Cams, Kiki / Euro American Cars. Whatever we have achieved over the years would not have been possible without their support both moral and financial.A special mention should go to Gary Burgin whose service in tracking down elusive parts and even more elusive information has made racing so much easier.And last, but by no means least, all the crew who have made their own invaluable contributions over the years.  Andy Bissett, Ricki Packham, Harry Palmer, Fred Wilbanks, Mike Nichols, Phil James, Darren Gould, Pete Walton, Nick and Jim ChandlerPosDriversGBRSWEFINDEUGBRPts1Fred Hanssen (NOR)369610236833532Dave Wilson (GBR)35837883343133Timo Habermann (DEU)43553477963054Dennis Habermann (DEU)34343554572145Derek Flynn (GBR)37375633341976Paul Ingar Udtian (NOR)3333034551557Peter Schofer (DEU)05305501088Krister Johansson (SWE)333403301009Esko Raisvuo (FIN)0123412127010Monty Bugeja (MLT)34000336711Oliver Azzopardi (MLT)000123345   http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=56Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMTGoing in to the 2011 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship , five-time Champion Dave Wilson surprised the racing world by announcing that this was to be his last season in competition. Carrying the statement The Last Chance on his farewell tour branding, it looks like Dave could grab that last (Championship) chance with both hands.Heading to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway this coming weekend, Silverline Tools - sponsored Dave leads the Championship by nine points ahead of nearest rival Fred Hanssen of Norway. Germany's Timo Habermann sits in third place with an outside chance of the title but it looks most likely to be either the Norweigan or the Brit who will be celebrating come Sunday night."I said this was my last chance and I'm so pleased to go in to the final round in such a good position", says Dave. "We knew that there were some gremlins to sort out but over the course of the Championship we've managed to do that. We proved this in Sweden where ours became the first European Top Methanol Dragster in the 5.20s. I really wanted that one, having already been the first in to the 50s, 40s and 30s! No one can ever take that away from me!"It's going to be an emotional weekend for us. I've been around these cars for thirty years now but it's time to call it a day. I want to say a thanks to all those who have helped me over the years - there are simply too many to list! I'd also like to thank the fans for their continued support through the highs and lows that racing brings. Please make sure you drop by and say Hi for one last time at our pit. I would also like to thank our sponsors for 2011 who have made it possible to go racing for one last season: Silverline Tools, Sony Playstation, Red Line Oil, Crane Cams, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Euro American Car Services and 1st Line Motorcycles. I'll see you all at the track!" http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=51Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMTTom Boardman took a controversial maiden victory in the final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Knockhill.On Sunday Jason Plato was leading from pole position, and held his position through the opening laps. The Chevrolet was hit twice by Boardman in his turbo-charged car. Tom Boardman got closer and closer eventually pushing Jason off the track causing him to be booted from the race, smashing into the tyre barriers.There was added controversy when Boardman backed the field up on the restart after the deployment of the Safety Car to move Plato's car, causing a collision between cars further down the field as people were forced to jump on the brakes.Frank Wrathall was third in the Dynojet Toyota with Honda pair Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden following him home, while race one winner Tom Chilton rounded out the top six.Andrew Jordan, Tom Onslow-Cole, Nick Foster and Alex MacDowall completed the scorers.After the incident with Tom Boardman in the final race on Sunday Jason spoke to ITV Sport, “I’m not sure what I should or should not say to be fair. I really don’t know what’s going on because the closing speed that Tom has on me, bearing in mind that I’m zero ballast with the best team in the business, I’m pretty good at my job and my record speaks for itself…to be hit that hard even before we got to the braking area, you can see how fast the turbo cars are relative to us. It’s not really on, is it?”This comes after Jason’s run of good success, after this weekend Plato is now in 4th position with 147 points – 35 points behind Shedden.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=50Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMTThe Silverline Balloon lifts off at Bristol’s International Balloon Fiesta, at Ashton Court Estate, 11th – 14th of August.Now in its 33rd year, the Balloon Fiesta is a world class hot air ballooning festival, recognised as the largest event of its kind in Europe and one of the top 5 outdoor events in the UK. This year’s theme was ‘Made in Bristol’ to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world’s largest balloon manufacturer, Cameron Balloons, which has its factory in Bedminster.Despite the cloudy weather, over 60 balloons of all shapes and sizes took to the skies, bringing together half a million people to the festival and providing an unforgettable spectacle. Visitors enjoyed local food courts, popular bands, animal entertainment for the kids and displays from the famous Red Arrows with their daredevil stunts.  Evenings also consisted of the ever popular night glow, where balloons light up the skies of Bristol in sequence to music, like giant light bulbs.This year, for the first time, visitors also got the chance to see how a hot air balloon is made thanks to balloon manufacturer Cameron Balloons, which constructed a passenger-carrying balloon, on site, during the 4 days of the festival.For more information, visit www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.ukhttp://www.racingsilverline.com/balloon/news/article/?i=48Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMTSince our last race in Finland it seems like the work hasn’t stopped. Whilst we got to the final in Alastaro we also learned that we needed to learn more about how to control our now consistent car, so on the return journey from Finland to Sweden I decided that we would take advantage of an NDRS race in Tierp in Sweden in 3 weeks time.  Some hasty arrangements were made with Mickey Guilquist to leave the truck and all the equipment in Sweden.  Thanks for the help Mickael..  An inquiry to the track operators at Tierp for permission to test there was discussed and finally granted thanks to assistance from Emellie.On the 29th July we were ready to run.  Now, the object of testing was to try out a few different approaches to the tune up, not necessarily try to achieve good times, but the first run of the weekend should be a straightforward base line run so we ran it just like it was in the Alastaro Final previously, result 5.303 @ 272 mph.  Just goes to show what a difference air quality and track make!!   Which is what we came here to figure out.  The rest of the weekend was spent trying various things which taught us more but did not result in such spectacular times.After the successful test and a journey home only marred by a blown trailer tyre at 4.00 am on the M25, the next job was a fairly extensive overhaul and check of the complete car and engineSuch has been the improvement in the engine this year that we were still using the same main bearings, pistons and rings that we started the year on!  But the time had come for a freshen up to insure that everything was in tip top condition for the upcoming race in Hockenheim.It had become obvious now that as we had been in every final this year and not capitalised on that by winning we really needed to “up our game” in Hockenheim to try to claw back some points from Fred Hanssen who is leading the Championship.Hockenheim – Day 1First qualifier did not take place until 4.20 pm due to some overnight rain having to be cleared before racing could begin and by virtue of being numbers 1 and 2 in the Championship Fred Hanssen and us have to run each other as the last pair of Top Methanol dragsterDrawing on some of our recent tuning discoveries we tried to put a tune up in the car that would get us down the track with a reasonable time.  Well Fred ran good with a 5.45, but we ran better with a 5.44 to place ourselves as number 1 qualifier after the first session.Second qualifier, much the same story.  We adjusted our tune up now that we had data from the first run and again ran with Fred Hanssen.  He improved to 5.396 but we improved to a 5.373, still putting us number 1, now this was getting really interesting!!Third qualifier, not so successful, slowed to a 5.47 mainly due to a lack of grip mid track.  We think we know how to deal with this and in any case other people ran slower too and we were still number 1 with our previous time.Fourth qualifier.  We made our adjustments and improved to a 5.445.  Nobody improved on our previous 5.37 so we were still number 1 qualifier but Fred Hanssen’s time was exceeded by Timo Haberman which moves Fred into third place qualifier and on the other side of the elimination ladder.Race day:First round and we are against Derek Flynn and Derek has had a problem with traction at mid track on a number of his runs.  By virtue of our faster time in qualifying we have lane choice, and we also know that due to a jet truck (in the night show) setting fire to the right lane there is a lot of traction missing in that lane.  So we put Derek in it!!Well it was a good job we did because at the hit of the throttle we started to lose traction and smoke the tyres.  Luckily I caught it early and was able to recover quite quickly but Derek was long gone until he had tyre shake at mid track at which point his safety system deployed his parachutes and shut off his fuel.  By this time I was charging up behind him and saw what happened and easily passed him for the win.  We dodged a bullet that time and what we learned was that the track was not as good as the day before and we would have to draw on our rapidly increasing experience at tuning this car in order to improve in the semi finals.Semi Finals:For some reason, which I still don’t understand, once we had completed our maintenance from the first run we were informed that our second round would not take place till 5.00 pm and we were also told that the track would shut at 7.00 pm.  This 4 hour gap would leave very little time for maintenance between the semis and the final.  Extraordinary!! In the event within half an hour it started to rain and by the time that had dried up we ran our semi final at 5.20 pmWe were against our old rival Peter Schofer and Peter had been very consistent all weekend and of course had lane choice by virtue of his faster time in the previous round.  So of course he put us in the right lane generally being the worst for traction.  Well we must have done something right with the tune up because not only did I leave the start line first but we also ran the second quickest time of the weekend, 5.38.  Now we were in the final again and as Fred  Hanssen had lost his race in the first round we had the opportunity to gain a substantial points lead over him prior to the finals at Santa Pod.FinalAs soon as the rain was over we hurried back to the pit as quickly as possible (not easy due to Hockenheim’s very awkward pit layout) to be told we had 25 minutes to get the car ready instead of the normal mandatory 90 minutes.  Due to brilliant work by the crew, who have all trained for this eventuality  we were nearly ready at 5.55 pm when we were told that the track would now shut at 6.00 pm and we would not run.  That took away our chance to race Timo Haberman in the final, and if we won to increase our points lead for the Championship.So now we move onto the European Finals at Santa Pod where with a 9 point lead anything could happen as Will Hanna (Fred Hanssen’s US tuner) said to me after the race “may the best man be the last man standing” after the final race at Santa Pod. HE WILL BE.See you there http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=49Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMTThe Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship looks set for a thrilling second half of the season, after a huge points haul at Snetterton put the Silverline Chevrolet team, and 2010 BTCC Champion Jason Plato, right back in the mix after a frustrating start to the season.It was a weekend of high drama that began with an eventful qualifying session. Plato set the fastest time with minutes to go, but the main story of the afternoon was a dramatic fire that engulfed the front of Alex MacDowall’s car after a fuel leak. The Cumbrian was pulled free from the car and the fire quickly doused by the RML team, yet despite missing much of the qualifying session he’d still scored a sufficiently good time to start Race One from third position.The strong qualifying positions were critical going into the day’s first race, with Plato’s Chevrolet Cruze surviving an early tangle with Matt Neal’s Honda to reveal a clear track. With Neal out of contention, MacDowall did a superb job defending second position from Honda’s Gordon Shedden, meaning Plato was left clear to take his fifth victory of the season, as well as setting the lap record for the new Snetterton 300 circuit with the fastest lap of the day.Going into Race Two, the two Cruzes were at the front of the grid, but both were pushed wide after contact in the first bend, allowing Gordon Shedden’s Honda to push its way through.Plato and MacDowall came out of the incident in fourth and fifth positions respectively, but both managed to pass Frank Wrathall’s Toyota Avensis to finish a solid third and fourth overall, with Plato once again on the podium. The BTCC’s reverse-grid formula made for an interesting start to Race Three – Plato and MacDowall began the race in fifth and sixth positions, but battled their way through the field in what was arguably the day’s most exciting race. Plato spent much of the race tussling with Dave Newsham’s SEAT, using every inch of the track to finally squeeze his way through to take third, while another sterling performance from Alex MacDowall saw him come in a creditable fifth, giving him his biggest weekend points tally of his BTCC career.But Plato wasn’t the only Chevrolet driver on the podium. Privateer Paul O’Neill, at the wheel of the Tech-Speed racing Cruze, was also a beneficiary of the reverse grid system, scoring his best ever finish of the season in second overall.“We needed both a good haul of points today and for Matt Neal to have a spot of bad luck,” said Plato. “In truth, today wasn’t easy, but we got what we wanted under the circumstances and it gives us a real chance to capitalise on this as we head into the last four rounds of the season.”The next round of the BTCC takes place at Knockhill, Fife, on Sunday September 4. To keep up with the action, visit www.chevroletbtcc.co.uk, or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/chevroeltbtcchttp://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=47Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMTWell not quite a run at midnight but the final did take place very late, 9.30 pm and that lead to our downfall (we did not adjust correctly for the conditions).Right from day one Friday this race threw a lot of problems at us, some related to the exceptionally changeable weather (one minute 96 degrees and sun and the next lightning and cloudbursts you wouldn’t believe) and some related to our problems with the fuel shutoff which cost us so dear in the final at Tierp previously.After a number of warm ups during the day and many different cures being tried, we finally fixed the problem by fitting an extra cable borrowed from our competitor Fred Hansen.  Thanks Fred.Finally having got everything working correctly we pull to the startline for the first qualifying session, after a good burnout I back up to the startline where one of the startline crew spots a very minor fuel leak.  I call David over to check the problem and he has no choice but to shut the engine off.  In that situation with a minor leak on the startline if you tried to make a run the fuel pressure would increase from 150 to 450 or 500 and the leak would increase, probably spray fuel on the rear tyres which might cause you to lose control, hit the wall or even worse cross into the other guys lane and cause him a problem.Back in the pit we find the cause of the leak and replace the component ready for our second qualifier, but before the session can take place we suffer a very substantial downpour which floods the track and pits and end the racing for the day.Saturday – the day starts out bright and sunny, yesterdays floods have now gone and the car is ready to run again, we pull to the startline for session 3 or qualifying&gt   (Session 2 cancelled due to rain).  Although we should have another qualifying attempt after this, we are all aware that should we have a problem this time and the last session was to be cancelled again we would be in trouble and possibly not qualify.So all to play for on this run, no problem, a good straight run and straight to No.1 qualifier, 5.42 low et (which would stand until the last run of the weekend).Back in the pit we set about our normal maintenance to get ready for our last qualifier and safe in the knowledge we are now qualified, prepare to tune the car up and lower our time still further.  Then it rained, and boy did it rain, it thundered, lightning struck the paddock a couple of times, our awning which at the time had a TV camera attached to it, partly collapsed.  You can probably guess that put paid to any further qualifying that day!!Sunday – Race day and once again the track had dried out but when the racing was due to start the organisers found the timing system used for racing had been damaged by the lightning the night before and a long delay ensued while the problem was fixed.  The racing was finally started at 3.00 in the afternoon!!  In the first round we were paired against Esko Raisvuo from Finland on his home track and with a car that seems to be improving all the time so we can’t take any chances with our tune up, it’s got to be safe enough to run a decent time as in qualifying but not so aggressive that we have a problem with traction.We must have judged it right, we win and run slightly better, 5.39 low et of the round just like qualifying.In the second round we have a bye run into the final.  Now the choice is do we tune the car right up and try for low et and lane choice in the final or do I just stage the car, take a green light and then shut off, thus saving us time for maintenance and any possible engine damage.  The safe option seems like the best call, it’s getting late and although the track can continue running until 10.00pm anything could happen to delay the racing and run over the deadline so we will play safe, collect the points and get into the final.Fred Hansen wins his semi final against Derek Flynn’s very stout effort.So the final comes down to Fred Hansen and us.  It’s now 9.30pm and the air quality has improved dramatically.  This puts us in a somewhat unfamiliar situation. Over the last three races the car has been increasingly consistent, a good thing!! But now we have a consistent car and very little experience of keeping it consistent with such a dramatic change in air quality, only one thing for it, Best guess time!! we need to reduce the power sufficiently to prevent losing traction due to increased power from the change in air.In the event our best guess wasn’t good enough, Fred powered of into the distance and ran low et on the last run of the weekend while we instantly went up in tyre smoke victims of our own success in making consistent power.  Now we need to get a better handle on controlling that power in all track and weather conditions, and we will!!All things considered a good race for us and a good first half of the Championship.  We’ve been in the final consistently, run low et of the event consistently and not done any engine damage consistently, and now we need to “up our game” consistently.Two more races to go and still everything to play for can’t wait for Hockenheim.SEE YOU THEREhttp://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=46Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMTHaving yesterday celebrated Jason Plato’s first pole position of the year, breakingHonda’s dominance in the process, the Silverline Chevrolet team fell out of luck intoday’s three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Croft.With Jason on pole and series front-runner, Matt Neal in 2nd for the first of today’sraces spectators and teams alike braced themselves for what would doubtless bean intriguing battle of the titans into turn one, but a nudge from Rob Collardbehind in third knocked Jason into a half spin – the latter skimming the grass inthe Cruze and rejoining the pack in 3rd.Whilst a third place podium would have provided vital points in Jason’schampionship bid, it wasn’t to be a reality. Having elected to take a daringstrategy of front slicks against the more popular call of full wets, Mat Jackson wason a charge through the field displaying some impressive car handling skills on aslippery track and proving his choice to be wise. He just jumped Jason to the finalpodium position by the chequered flag.Alex too was a victim of other people’s tangles, himself being nudged off tracksliding out of position twice during the race, which resulted in a disappointing 14thplace finish, not reflective of the great pace he’d displayed throughout theweekend.Race two fared little better for the Silverline Chevrolet duo, both ultimately endingin retirements with mechanical problems. Again Jason was running in strongcontention for third position before a broken driveshaft forced the Cruze into earlyretirement amidst much disappointment for the team.Elsewhere on track Alex had been on a flier, progressing through the pack from15th to as high as 7th when the radio feedback between driver and engineer took afrustrating twist. On returning to the pits for further inspection the team confirmedan oil pressure problem was the cause of Alex’s premature race end.In the final race the Chevrolet Cruzes dominated the show as both Alex andJason skilfully mastered their way from the back of the grid to 8th and 11threspectively.Jason: “I’m disappointed with the outcome of today, but there are 15 races leftand we’ve got a great car, which, along with the team, has a lot of potentialespecially given the proposed review in the summer break.”Alex: “It’s been a mixed weekend for me. I was hopeful of some stronger pointsfinishes given our qualifying performance to be honest, but I was knocked offtrack a couple of times so I had to fight my way back through which set me back.I enjoyed some great racing in that last one, working my way through the fieldfrom 16th on the grid to 8th, which just shows the pace is there. The results aren’ttruly reflective of where I think we should have been today but I’m happy with thatrace three comeback and will be raring to go at Snetterton following this sevenweekbreak.”http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=43Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Jason Plato sets first pole position of season Frustrating afternoon as drama unfolds on track Everything still to play for at season midway pointThe Silverline Chevrolet Cruze set a blistering pace in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying at Croft, with Jason Plato outpacing his nearest rivals by four-tenths of a second, proving that the great handling Cruze is well-suited to the North Yorkshire circuit’s notorious twists and tight sections.But despite the amazing qualifying session, it was to be a weekend of frustration for Silverline Chevrolet and the RML team. Plato got off the line quickly in wet conditions during race one, but was hit by Rob Collard’s BMW into the first bend, slewing the Chevrolet sideways and across the infield. Plato recovered well to drive home to a solid fourth position.Meanwhile his team mate, Alex Macdowall, was the innocent victim of several racing incidents, twice ending up off the track through no fault of his own, and doing well to recover from a further collision on the final straight to cross the line midway through the field.But it was the second race that was to deliver the ultimate frustration. Plato was challenging for third position, on a rapidly drying track, when a broken driveshaft coupling forced him to retire. Meanwhile, MacDowall, who had driven brilliantly to pull his own Cruze up from fifteenth to seventh position, was also forced to pit with an oil pressure problem, shortly after pulling an incredible overtaking manoeuvre on Tom Onslow-Cole’s Ford.With both cars starting from the back of the grid in the third of the day’s races, there was little prospect of a great result – but Alex MacDowall drove a fantastically spirited race, bringing the Cruze home in eight overall.Despite coming away from Croft with fewer points than would have been ideal, the Silverline Chevrolet team remain optimistic as the BTCC season enters its summer break.“There are five rounds of the series left, and I’m disappointed with the outcome of today” said 2010 driver’s champion Jason Plato. “But we’ve got a great car, and the team has a lot of potential, especially given the proposed review in the summer break.”The BTCC returns on August 7th at the fast-flowing Snetterton Circuit near Thetford, Norfolk. In the meantime, for behind the scenes information on the Silverline Chevrolet team, visit www.chevroletbtcc.co.uk or follow them on facebook at www.facebook.com/chevroletbtcc.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=44Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMTSome time late last year ground was broken on the seemingly impossible task of constructing a world class drag racing facility in time for an FIA round of the European Drag Racing Championship in June this year.Well they succeeded.  The facility they have constructed outside the town of Tierp in Sweden is without doubt one of the best in the world and will I believe only get better, indeed a “job well done”.As for our performance at this inaugural FIA  race at Tierp Arena.Well I’ve got to say another “job well done” by the Silverline/PlayStation team.We started the weekend in style by running in the first qualifying session on Friday with Norway’s Fred Hansen.  Fred’s car always runs hard, so to feel our car pulling hard and still be able to see Fred alongside I knew meant we were on a good solid run, and so it was.  We recorded a 5.36 and Fred a 5.35 to just push us into second place in the first qualifier.Now you might think we shouldn’t be satisfied with second  place but after the struggles we had last year we were all pleased to see a good run, especially as this could have been the first run in eliminations at the rained out Main Event and it followed on our steady improvement in performance throughout this year.It seems our changes made over the winter could be working!! This was far from a perfect run, as the front tyres landed after the launch the chassis unloaded a little which allowed the rear tyres to lose some grip and just a haze of smoke could be seen, but we got away with it! and even better still no engine damage (unlike last year). This year at the suggestion of the crew we have been removing the cylinder heads as well as doing the normal maintenance after every run.  This of course increases the work load for the crew, but actually takes no more time.  David, Ricki, Nick, Jim and stand in Andy can still turn around the car and fire up in just over an hour and still have time for a cup of Linda’s tea.Second qualifier Friday and we made some adjustments based on the data from our first run.  The result was a 5.40, slightly slower.  I think we were a little conservative with our settings and at the same time the track probably improved leaving us short of power to take advantage.  Nevertheless it was pleasing to have another trouble free run and turnaround.Third qualifier Saturday morning after seeing the improvement in the track and slight decrease in air quality, David and I thought we could now get more aggressive and see what we could so and if it didn’t work out make further adjustments for the final session later in the day.BOY DID THAT WORK OUT!!The car left like a rocket, put the front wheels down gently and then kept on pulling as it should do through the first half of the track, only finally slowing slightly at 4.5 secs when two cylinders went out.  For the first time I can remember David came on the radio while I was slowing in the shut down area, it sounded like 5.59, but he wouldn’t radio me to say that, then he repeated it 5.29.  I wanted to believe him but I wasn’t 100% sure and I hate disappointments so I pulled up and parked   the car and went about my normal business of getting out   checking the engine and tyres, picking up the chutes, etc. all the time holding my breath till the crew finally arrived and confirmed the time I thought I had heard!  Well as this was going on Krister Johansonn, who had run before us came over to me and asked if I knew what I had just run.  I said no I wasn’t sure, then he told me it was 5.298.  Then the crew arrived and all hell broke loose .  This was after all the current holy grail for European TMD. Everybody, including us wanted to be the “first” to run a 5.20 especially as we had previously been the first European car in the 5.50’s 5.40’s 5.30’s and now it was done and after a lot of jumping up and down, hugs and handshakes we made our way back to the pit as quickly as we could via the weighbridge tech crew and the TV interviews, we still had another qualifier to run and more importantly we needed to back up our time within 1% for a new record and keep our number 1 qualifier spot.Last qualifying session.  We had no problems on the turnaround so made just some minor adjustments to see if we could repeat our performance close enough to backup our earlier time for a new record, and that’s exactly what we did!!A run of 5.32 gave the Silverline/PlayStation machine a new FIA European record of 5.298What a day!! We were now Number One Qualifier, had reset our own European record and been the first European TMD in the 5.20’sSunday, race day.As no.1 qualifier we got the chance to choose if we raced first or last pair, so we chose first as that gives us a little extra turnaround time.  We checked the track in the morning and all looked OK but as I drove onto the startline for my burnout I could see what looked like a strange pair of tyre tracks.  It seems that during the Top Fuel eliminations immediately before us some of the rubber which provides the grip had come unglued from the concrete track surface and unknown to me when the car was staged and ready what the tyres were actually sat on was bare concrete.  As I hit the throttle the rear tyres went up in smoke, we were going nowhere!!  The good thing was, in the other lane our competitor Paul Ingar from Norway cut the start lights too fine and fouled out with a red light giving the win to us.  I’ve said before if you are going to succeed you need a little luck, and we just got it! Onto the second round of eliminations and we can’t rely on luck to get us through, we are drawn against Timo Haberman from Germany, the current European Champion with very good reaction times and a fast car, but if we are to have any success in this years Championship we have to beat him to improve our points total.  Well this time Timo’s reaction time was not so good, better than mine, a .121 to a .142 but our car performed better.  We ran a 5.34 against his 5.41 we win and go through to the final for the first time in two long years.The FinalOur competitor is Norways Fred Hansen and his car is tuned by Will Hanna and Howard Moon, both successful tuners from the USA, and we know they are going to pull all the stops out on Fred’s car for this run.  We don’t want to leave anything on the table either, so we make a number of small adjustments again and the crew are still finishing final adjustments right behind and startline before we fire up.  Everything is now ready and we get the signal to fire up.  We start first as the A-fuel  car always starts on methanol and then switches to nitro, all is well until I go to operate the fuel lever to turn on the nitro and for some reason it wont move,  David on the outside and me in the car struggle to see what the problem is and eventually get the lever to move enough to do a burnout but  when I go to stage the car, again the lever will not move, in the previous effort to turn on the fuel the cable has been damaged and nothing seems to free it.  I can see we have insufficient fuel pressure to make run and at this point David signals to the starter to let Fred go and I shut our car off by forcing the end out of the cable. To his credit Fred makes an outstanding pass, a 5.305.  Regretfully that could have been the quickest and fastest side by side run ever by top methanol dragsters in Europe , but it was not to be, maybe our luck ran out.Despite what happened in the Final I think for us the whole weekend was an outstanding success.  We went to the startline seven time only replaced four bearings and I set of oil rings all weekend.  The car responded to our changes every time, even when we made the wrong changes it just slowed a little.  The crew is now really beginning to come together so you would have to consider the whole weekend a “job well done”.  Can’t wait for Finland.See you there.-http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=45Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMTAs the green flag flew and the boats, complete with rooster tails, blasted into the distance, a new dawn signalled for international endurance racing and a new day for the crews the waiting was over and a world championship title was at stake.By the end of the first ever race in the newly formed UIM-OGP World Endurance Championship, Furnibo from Belgium, piloted by Pierre Colpin and Frank Hemelaar had taken the spoils and set the standards for the campaign ahead.It was the Germans, Douglas Verbanck and Sigi Greve, in Hercules Sagemann that showed the early pace, gaining traction off the start with Lucas Oil, the Swedish-American challenger tucking in behind. It wasn’t long though before oil pressure issues hampered the Searex boat allowing Lucus Oil and Furnibo to pass.The two boats fought a hard battle with Lucas Oil showing the early pace and leading for four laps. It was an impressive performance by the Silverhook, a newly built craft that had not entered the water in anger until this weekend. The race remained in the balance until the closing stages.The British contenders, Drew Langdon and Miles Jennings in Silverline were content to take third place in the Evo class, passing the German boat mid-race and consolidating the position.This was the weekend’s shorter sprint race over a distance of 47-miles but high temperatures and heavy seas combined to make for an exhausting ride. With cockpit temperatures reaching 40 degrees centigrade, several pilots suffered. None more so than Frank Hemelaar who collapsed on reaching land, what should have been a victory celebration turning into a dramatic few minutes on the side of the pontoon. He recovered shortly afterwards and will be fit to race tomorrow.In Supersport, Antonio and Giuseppe Schiano di Cola and Francesco Calo in Karelpiu won the race in commanding fashion. The Neapolitan team RG87, racing a Mercury-powered Fountain, had started from pole and dominated proceedings from the first lap. Even the guile of the experienced Renato Guidi, Stefano Acanfora and Vittorio Foglia Manzillo, piloting SIF could do nothing to reel in the lead boat. They finished in second with Jolly Drive a distant third.Today there will be the 74-mile endurance race, the closing leg of the UIM Malta Ocean Grand Prix.http://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=41Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMTDrew Langdon will fly the flag for Britain in Silverline, a 42ft Fountain powerboat,when the Ocean Grand Prix of Malta powers into action this weekend.The Exeter-based property developer, the most experienced throttleman in thenewly formed endurance world championship, will take on the best of Europe andthe USA as he starts his Evo title challenge in the 1400 horse-power craft,alongside fellow Brit, Miles Jennings.Langdon has raced in world championship events for more than a decade andunderstands the pressure facing the pilots as they prepare for the opening eventamid the unpredictable and often treacherous seas off Malta.“You cannot tame these waters, only respect them,” explains Langdon. “There isa tendency in the first race to want to blast off from the start but that would befolly.”“We want to win, in flat water our boat can top 100mph, but this is Malta andwaves of 15ft or more are not uncommon. When the boats lifts up then crashesback down it feels like hitting a brick wall, time and time again,” he continues.“Our game plan for the first two rounds is simple build a platform for the rest ofthe season by completing both races and getting the boat home in one piece, nottwo!”The opening two rounds of the 2011 Ocean Grand Prix World PowerboatChampionship takes place off Valletta at 4pm local time on Saturday 11th andSunday 12th June.http://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=42Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMTThe picturesque Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire saw the Silverline Chevrolet team take a crucial haul of points in a meeting packed with drama, but reigning champion Jason Plato has called on the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship organisers to ensure a fairer playing field for the remaining six rounds of the season.Plato took victory in the second of the day’s two races after the Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden took each other into the gravel in the second of the day’s two races, while he and team-mate Alex Macdowall took a solid second and third position in race one to strengthen the RML-built Silverline Chevrolet cars’ championship chances.Showery weather in the first two races led to a race meeting packed with drama, with tyre choice proving critical.Plato and MacDowall climbed from fourth and seventh on the grid respectively to come home second and third overall, while in the second race the extra power of the turbocharged Hondas made it impossible for the Chevrolets to pass. Plato was gifted a victory after Matt Neal collided with team-mate Gordon Shedden on the final lap.Speaking after the race, he said: “It’s great to have the points in the bag as we’ve worked really hard for them, but the BTCC series organisers need to take a long hard look at the parity they promised between turbo and non-turbo cars at the start of the season. It’s not racing when a more powerful car can sail past us on the straights, and we were promised at the start of the season that this wouldn’t be the case.“It’s not fair on the teams that invest so much time and money into trying to win the championship, but more importantly it’s not fair on the fans, who turn up to race meetings or watch at home on the TV, as they want to see close, hard-fought racing.”Nonetheless, the additional points haul helped put the Silverline Chevrolet team back in contention for the manufacturers/constructors championship, just 27 points behind Honda with 18 races and six meetings left to go in the season.Plato trails championship leader Matt Neal by 12 points, while just 15 points separates the series’ top six drivers.The BTCC next moves to Croft, North Yorkshire, on Sunday June 19th.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=37Sun, 05 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMTDespite the race finally being cancelled due to rain on Monday (eliminations day) the Silverline/PlayStation race team actually had a good weekend.  The wind was very strong on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the planned testing on Thursday also had to be cancelled due to rain.  So Saturday morning saw us make our first attempt at the cold and windy Santa Pod Racetrack.The track crew had done their usual excellent job of preparation and we under estimated  the grip available and we set the car up for a good A-B run, which is exactly what it did, 5.77 ET @ 257 mph, qualified and in the field at No.8.  More importantly (after last years mechanical trouble) we had no damage or issues at all.Next qualifying run on Saturday afternoon and time to try to improve our qualifying position.  This time we applied more power with the tune-up but still were concerned how good the track might be given the weather conditions, result, good run again, gave us exactly what we asked for 5.47 ET @ 268 mph, and at that point No.1 qualifier.  We did slip to No.3 qualifier by the end of the session but nobody got within 5 mph of our top speed the whole weekend!  That is a good indication we are making power and again when we checked the engine we had no problems and no damage. We have this year changed our maintenance procedure as well as our engine set up, we now remove both heads after every run just to check engine condition after we found it was quicker and more conclusive to do that rather than check valves and leak downs, etc., and then sometimes have to remove a cylinder head anyway! 3rd qualifier Sunday morning and we needed to improve our performance in the first part of the track which necessitated some changes in the tune-up, the result was indeed an improved 60 ft and 330 ft time  but a dropped cylinder caused a drop in the overall time and speed.  Nevertheless the car did respond to the changes we made in the way that we wanted, do another successful run which still left us in No.4 position after three sessions of qualifying.4th qualifier Sunday afternoon.  Having underestimated the tracks grip 3 times now, we were determined to tune it up enough to either run a good number or smoke the tyres.  In the end we didn’t manage either!  What I can only describe as a “torque wrench – con rod interface problem” !!! occurred but due to being shut off swiftly by David, the inevitable major engine damage was avoided.  Our excellent crew leapt into action and got the car pushed off the start line so as not to hold up anybody else’s qualifying.We were extremely lucky to only have to replace one con rod and bearings, but to succeed sometimes you have to have a little luck as well as getting the car to run a best is can.So, to sum up, a really successful weekend for us.  We now move onto Tierp in Sweden which at the moment is an unknown quantity, but I am sure will turn out to be the quickest  track in Europe, given good weather.  It certainly will be interesting to run on a brand new all concrete track, hopefully in the sun!!See you there. http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=38Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00:00 GMTIf you’ve attended an English race meeting over the past thirty years, the chances are you will have seen Dave ‘Grumpy’ Wilson, fuelled by alcohol! Before questioning just what drives a man to thirty years of addiction, a look back over his incredible career as a multi Championship winner in the Top methanol class of the quarter mile sport, may just give us some insight.It’s fair to say that “What Dave Wilson doesn’t know about racing in the alcohol class isn’t worth knowing”. He’s a five-time FIA European Top Methanol winner, with various British Championships and race wins to his name. Since his first experience of a dragster in the late 1970s to the present day, Grumpy has been through the highs and lows of a self-funded team, to a hugely successful sponsorship programme which has enabled him to achieve success not only in Europe, but also in the Americans’ own back yard.After such huge success, it was always going to be difficult to finally hang up the race suit but the time has some to announce the Dave Wilson Racing Farewell Tour 2011. This season will be Dave’s last chance to ass one more FIA European title to his impressive collection.Dave Wilson commented “It has to happen sometime and I feel that this is the right time to retire from driving. I suppose as one door closes, another opens and I’m keen to see my dragster go on to fulfil its full potential and carry on winning races! This is a great opportunity for someone to come in and take on the car and have as much fun as I have. Let’s talk! I’m open to offers to buy the complete operation, hire a drive for races or the complete FIA tour. There are many options and I’m open to discussing them all”. The car will be available after the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod on 8th-11th September and gives a fantastic opportunity to be involved in one of the sports pinnacle classes, with a race-proven car.To mark Grumpy’s Farewell Tour, a new website has been put together by 3t creative, which can be found at www.davewilsonracing.co.uk. The site includes some fantastic images from Grumpy’s archive as well as a full history of his hugely successful career.Dave Wilson Racing will be contesting the complete FIA Top Methanol Dragster Championship Tour in 2011, with backing from key partners Silverline Tools and Sony Playstation. Be sure to visit the team pit and wish Dave well for one final year. As Dave says, “It’s the last chance!”.http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=40Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 GMTFIA European Top Methanol team, Dave Wilson Racing, are delighted to announce Silverline Tools as Primary Sponsor for the 2011 season.The announcement marks Wilson’s sixth year as a major partner with Racing Silverline - a prestigious stable that includes the 2010 British Touring Car Champion, Jason Plato.It will be a busy year for the Silverline-backed team, as Wilson will contest the full FIA European tour as well as the SPRC Championship."This is great news for myself and the crew” Wilson commented. “We're really grateful to Silverline Tools for their continued backing. As ever, we'll be doing all we can to give them as much exposure as possible. This will include a full race programme as well as appearing at the 2011 Silverline Power Tool Drag Racing Championship at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in September.“2010 was a tough year for us, with the car’s full potential not being achieved. We believe that the Winter break has given us time to root out the gremlins and get the car into full racing shape. We're still the quickest and fastest Top Methanol car outside of America, and we head into this new season confident of setting the bar even higher!"Silverline Director, Darrell Morris said: “Silverline are delighted to confirm our continued partnership with Dave and the team for the coming season.  We have a long and proud history with top level motorsport and are proud to be back as primary sponsor. The extensive range of Silverline products fits perfectly with the standards the team require, and we are looking forward to the first round at Santa Pod.”The first outing for the Dave Wilson Racing / Silverline Drag Racing team will be at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball, 22nd - 25th April, at Santa Pod Raceway, and Dave and the crew look forward to catching up with fans and friends over that weekend.The Silverline Drag Racing website is currently receiving a complete re-design from new partner 3t creative, and is due to go live ahead of the new FIA European season. Watch this space!!http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=39Sun, 15 May 2011 00:00:00 GMTThe eyes of the country may have been on Wills and Kate for the first part of the weekend, but there was a plenty of action at Thruxton on Sunday, as the Hampshire Circuit hosted the third meeting of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.And there was good reason for the Silverline Chevrolet team to celebrate, though like every good bride, it was a little late in arriving.Jason Plato drove a perfect race from second on the grid to take victory in the third of the day’s races, after a frustrating start to the day. Meanwhile, his young team mate Alex MacDowall fought off a nasty illness to bring home valuable points for the team in all three races.The first race of the day proved the performance disparity between normally aspirated and turbocharged cars, adding to controversy over whether or not the cars running turbos should be restricted.And it took its toll on Plato, who despite driving hard suffered a puncture to his nearside front tyre, leading to a dramatic exit into the tyre wall and yet more bodywork repairs for the hard-working team at RML.“The organisers of the series promised equality, but it was difficult to see that here this morning,” said Plato. “I had to drive each lap like it was a qualifying lap, and that’s not strictly fair.”But the team’s fortunes improved in the second of the day’s races, MacDowall building on a solid 10th position in Race One to finish 8th overall, with Plato just ahead in 7th.But it was Race Three where the Cruzes really shone. Despite the obvious power advantages of the turbocharged cars, Plato drove a perfect race, pulling into the lead straight from the start line and fending off an early challenge from Mat Jackson’s Ford Focus to lead the entire race – proof that every cloud has a Silver-Lining…“It was tough out there today and I think the series organisers have to look long and hard at the disparity between turbo and S2000 cars before the next round,” added Plato. “But it’s great that we still came away from Thruxton with a victory for our fans and for the team.”Meanwhile, young gun MacDowall put in another solid performance despite his illness, bringing his Cruze home an impressive 8th overall.The next meeting of the BTCC takes place at Oulton Park in Cheshire on June 4th-5thhttp://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=36Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet’s Jason Plato today walked away unscathed from a huge shunt, in which a multi-car pile up forced the reigning champion off track and into a triple barrel roll on contact with the embankment during lap one.  Yet despite fears the car wouldn’t compete in the final race with such damage, the RML team worked tirelessly to repair the car in time to make race three – and critically, it finished in the points allowing Jason to salvage some points in finishing a superb 6th place – undoubtedly the success story of the weekend.It has been a challenging event for the Wellingborough-based team, with a puncture effectively ending Jason’s chances of a points-scoring finish in race 1.  He classified in 19th place and Alex in 11th.  Then race two was dominated by Jason’s roll amid chaos on track.  The incident started at the top of Craner Curve, and with several cars making contact, Jason was merely a passenger.  Speaking after the race, Jason explained: “That was a big shunt – I think it was three rolls?  As soon as the impact came, that was it.  Needless to say, it was bitterly frustrating for me, but I’m ok”Alex also enjoyed an action-packed race and despite plenty more carnage during the final race, a recurring theme for the weekend, took the flag in a very strong 4th placeJason summarised:  “It was amazing.  You can see the passion in everybody, there were seriously tears in our eyes, including mine.  To turn that car around and get it on the grid for race three looked an impossible task, but they did it and that makes RML the best team out there.  That is teamwork.  To see their commitment makes up for all the bad weekends we’ll ever have.  That was real emotion out there today.”Rod Underwood, Team Manager said:  “That was a tremendous effort from the whole team to get the car on the grid.  We thought it near impossible, but RML willl never give up and the guys put in 110%.  For both cars to finish in the points is just reward for the hardwork and Jason’s 6th place will be greatly celebrated by us all, given how it looked post race two.”The BTCC returns with rounds 7, 8 &amp 9 at Thruxton in a fortnight’s time when the Silverline Chevrolet team are determined to regain their championship lead as both Jason and Alex vow to come back fighting.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=35Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet driver Jason Plato has become the most prolific winner ever in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, smashing Andy Rouse’s record of 60 victories in an amazing afternoon of action at Brands Hatch.Britain’s best racing series began in truly dramatic fashion, with two cars falling by the wayside on the warm-up lap, and a dramatic crash in early practice that saw Honda’s Gordon Shedden relegated to the rear of the grid.There was further drama on the very first lap, with Jason Plato charging up the inside on Paddock Hill Bend to pass pole-sitter Matt Neal, followed through by Silverline Chevrolet young gun Alex MacDowall in the second works Cruze. With Plato edging ahead, MacDowall, Neal, Nash and Chilton went four abreast into Druids, leading to contact between MacDowall and Neal that put the Honda into the gravel trap.The first two laps were run under safety car conditions, but the regrouping of the pack didn’t affect Plato, who drove a faultless, textbook race to claim his 61st, and record-breaking victory.MacDowall battled on with a damaged car, eventually coming home in fifth and scoring some valuable points for the Silverline Chevrolet team.But frustration would befall Alex in the second of the day’s races, incurring a drive-through penalty after an alleged false start, having powered his way up into third position.For Plato, race two would bring a second victory of the day, which combined with a solid fifth position in Race 3 left him eight points clear in the driver’s championship. The Oxford-based driver came home first despite carrying 45kg of success ballast, the victory helped by a thrilling battle for second between Matt Jackson and Gordon Shedden.“I’m delighted,” said Jason. “To take the record number of wins is one thing, but to do so with back-to-back victories at the season opener is even better. We weren’t expecting too much at Brands as the new turbo-powered cars have an advantage on the circuit, but the Cruze’s superb handling and balance meant I could keep the momentum and ensure we could get our championship challenge off to the best start imaginable. It’s a real credit to the team at Silverline Chevrolet and RML that we took the points.”In the third race of the day, the BTCC’s reverse-grid system did no favours for the Silverline Chevrolet team, with Jason starting from seventh and Alex twelfth on the grid after his drive-through penalty affected his finish in the second race. But both drivers came through the traffic to finish in the points, Jason coming home a respectable fifth and Alex ninth overall. There was still a Chevrolet driver on the podium, though, with privateer Paul O’Neill coming home third in his Techspeed-run Cruze.The BTCC return s to Donington Park on Sunday April 17.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=34Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMTWith just a week to go before the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship gets underway at Brands Hatch on 2-3 April, RML officially unveiled their championship challenger, the Silverline Chevrolet Cruze, at yesterday’s official TOCA media day.2011 sees the welcome return of popular pairing Jason Plato and Alex MacDowall and as both promise to return to the series to defend and conquer, the striking new Cruze with edgy livery looks set to be the perfect tool with which to achieve their championship aims.Silverline, Chevrolet and ECM continue their partnership with RML this year and will be joined by a host of key partners including Tesco Momentum 99 fuel, DuPont Refinish, Dread,  Mobil 1, Rays Wheels, OMP, Chicago Pneumatic and Autoglym, all of whom feature on the distinct Cruze.Rupert Manwaring, RML Sponsorship &amp Marketing Director: “It’s great to see the Silverline Chevrolet team getting such strong 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.”Mark Terry, Chevrolet UK Managing Director: “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.”With media duties over Jason and Alex set to work with final testing duties prior to Brands Hatch next weekend.   By session end the team were extremely encouraged and both drivers laid down the gauntlet to their rivals.  Simply put Jason summarised: “It’s even better than last year’s car and we won the championship in that!”20-year old ‘BRDC Super Star’ Alex MacDowall added: “I’m thrilled to be driving for Silverline Chevrolet again.  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 will definitely be aiming for that first BTCC win.”In addition to full live raceday coverage shown on ITV4, the BTCC will now not only benefit from high definition coverage via ITV4 HD for the first time, but qualifying will also be streamed live via the ITV Sport website.Tickets are still available via www.brandshatch.co.uk, with children 13 and under free and early bookers can save £5.00 on advance purchases.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=33Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet Confirm their return in BTCC 2011 Defending champions, RML Silverline-Chevrolet have confirmed they will make their much anticipated return this year to the UK's favourite motor racing series, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. With the ever-popular pairing of last year's champion Jason Plato and rising star Alex MacDowall officially signed up, the team is looking ahead with excitement to the opening round which takes place at Brands Hatch in less than three weeks on 2nd &amp 3rd April.Joining the field again this year is the fiercely competitive RML-run Silverline Chevrolet Cruze which will appear in a different guise as Jason and Alex get to grips with the 2010 WTCC chassis, as raced to Drivers' and Manufacturers' titles with Yvan Muller, Rob Huff, Alain Menu and RML – the touring car giants of the modern era - in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.The Wellingborough-based squad has yet to unveil the striking 2011 challenger in full livery with the complete group of partners, which will take place at the BTCC Media Day, Silverstone, on 24th March. But a successful test on the Brands Hatch Indy track last week alongside other series' front-runners saw the Cruzes run for the first time on UK soil in BTCC trim since their return from Macau last December.The team is confident they've got the package to beat with Jason, Alex and a technically advanced Silverline Chevrolet Cruze that looks set to be even more impressive on track than its predecessor.Jason Plato: “I’m delighted to once again be working with Silverline Chevrolet and RML. The team proved last year that it could provide the hardware to win the championship, and, with a newer and more advanced development of the already incredible Chevrolet Cruze to campaign with, I expect we’ll be in for a dramatic and exciting season.”On his title hopes for 2011, Jason adds: “Will I win the championship again? I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was possible – but there are some other good teams out there who have come on leaps and bounds since last year, meaning we’re in for one of the most competitive seasons ever – great news for fans of the best racing series in the UK, and for the drivers who compete in it. It’s going to be a thriller.”With less than a month to go before the season kicks off, last year's fans' favourite for 'Rookie of the Year', Alex MacDowall, himself a pole-sitter and podium visitor in 2010 is on fighting form ahead of what will be only his second season in the BTCC. He says: “Last year was a big learning curve for me. I achieved some great results and in 2011 I’m confident I can really build on that and achieve my first BTCC win, especially with a car as good as the Cruze, a team as professional as RML and a team mate as experienced as Jason to work alongside.”RML CEO, Ray Mallock:  "The 2011 season will be a very exciting one for RML as we return to defend our titles in the BTCC, WTCC and Le Mans Series.  Looking ahead to the BTCC, we welcome continued support from Silverline, Chevrolet UK and ECM as we enter with the ex-WTCC 2010 Cruzes in the BTCC series this year – which are of course proven championship winners on the world stage.  I’ve no doubt that we are in for a tough battle to defend our title, however, I am confident that with such a committed team at RML and with Jason and Alex on board we can achieve our goal of championship success in both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles.”Silverline Director, Darrell Morris said: ‘’Silverline are delighted to confirm our continued partnership with Chevrolet and RML for the coming BTCC season.  Last year we had the perfect end to a thrilling season, with our lead driver, Jason Plato, clinching the championship ahead of stiff competition. We fully expect the coming season to be just as competitive and just as exciting. But we’re confident we can bring home the Championship title once again in 2011 and are raring to get back on the grid for the first race on Sunday 3rd April. Let battle commence!’’Chevrolet UK Managing Director, Mark Terry, concludes: “In 2011, Chevrolet celebrates its centenary year and, right from the start, racing has been part of the brand’s DNA. Having won the drivers championship in our first full year – a truly remarkable achievement – we’re back for more in 2011’’.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=32Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMTThe TouringCarTimes Awards for the 2010 BTCC season are here...with one team in particular winning in every category they were in contention for. The two-times BTCC champion was voted the best driver with a staggering 45% of the public vote - the biggest winning margin in any of this year's polls.In the teams' awards, Silverline Chevrolet were voted top with 27%, with the series champions, the Honda Racing Team in second place just 5% behind. Team Aon's strong championship season saw the Littlehampton based squad close behind in third.Silverline Chevrolet driver Alex MacDowall was voted the best rookie in a season with few full-time newcomers. Shaun Hollamby, the team owner/driver who brought Volkswagen back to the BTCC was in second place.The result for the manufacturers’ award is the series result reversed, with RML/Chevrolet winning the award for the best car with a dominant 48% of the public vote. Arena's controversial LPG and turbo powered Ford Focus was in second place with 29%, with the championship winning Civic of Team Dynamics in third place.The winners from all of the categories in each championship will now be pitted against each other to see who you believe was the best of the best in 2010 shortly.  Read the full article at http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=5736# http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=31Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet BTCC Champion Jason Plato has been named National Driver of the Year at the AUTOSPORT Awards in London.Plato, who won his second British Touring Car Championship title this year, beat the likes of his season-long rivals Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden and British Formula 3 champion Jean-Eric Vergne to win the award."It's a very tough championship to win," said Plato, who received the Paul Warwick Trophy from three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx."But the difference is being with a great team in RML again. They say you're only as good as the car you drive, and I've had a great one in the [Chevrolet] Cruze."Plato, 43, took his second BTCC title with seven race wins on what was the return of Chevrolet as a works entrant in the series.Despite he and the team having to develop a new car - the Cruze - he grabbed the championship lead at the mid-point of the season from his long-time rival Neal.Heading into the final race at Brands Hatch with Neal, Shedden and Tom Onslow-Cole all capable of beating him to the crown, Plato superbly took a double win while carrying maximum success ballast to claim his first title since 2001.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=27Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMTJason Plato, the British Touring Car 2010 champion, battled through the snow and visited the Silverline headquarters in Yeovil on Thursday 2nd December to celebrate his success with the Chevrolet team’s primary sponsor.  His visit included a tour of Silverline’s impressive warehouse and office facilities, where he was met and congratulated by staff before signing autographs and having photos taken.Following interviews with Jason he took the opportunity to recount his racing season and present prizes to the winners of the Racing Silverline online competition.  In the spirit of motor racing competition, a Pit Stop Challenge was held where Silverline’s directors competed against the clock to change a tyre on the Chevrolet Cruze which Jason drove to victory in 2010’s BTCC.Jason Plato stated that “Despite the cold &amp the weather it’s been a really great day…..It’s a nice way to say thanks to Silverline for giving us support this year.” Jason had an extra reason to celebrate in 2010 as he also equaled Andy Rouse’s all-time BTCC record for the number of wins by finishing first for the 60th time in his glittering motor racing career on the final race day.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=28Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMTNewly-crowned 2010 British Touring Car Champion, Jason Plato, will once again be fighting with the best for one more prestigious motor-racing award this year as he joins forces with fellow touring car racer, Andy Priaulx, to represent Team GB at the highly acclaimed Race of Champions Nations Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany, on 27th &amp 28th November.Plato joins a driver roll call that already includes multiple F1 world champions Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost, seven-time world rally king Sébastien Loeb, five-time world 500cc motorcycling champion Mick Doohan, eight-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner Tom Kristensen, X-Games legend Travis Pastrana and 2010 F1 title contender Sebastian Vettel.Plato said “It’s been a great year for me on the track and it meant so much to clinch the BTCC title again after a gap of nine years. Now my next step is to head to Dusseldorf to slug it out with this amazing field of legends. Everyone says it’s just for fun but in the ROC Nations Cup, Andy and I will do our best to battle not just for the pride of Britain, but the pride of tin-tops.”The Race of Champions has been staged every year since 1988, founded by IMP President Fredrik Johnsson and Michèle Mouton, the world’s most successful female rally driver. The end-of-season competition brings together the world’s greatest drivers from motor sport’s most prestigious disciplines and pits them head-to-head in identical machinery. This year’s event will take place on a specially constructed tarmac circuit with two parallel lanes winding their way round Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena. Motors TV will be airing live coverage of all the action from the Nations Cup at 18:00 on Saturday 27th and the Race of Champions from midday on Sunday 28th. Replays of all the weekend’s events will also be shown on Sunday.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=26Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMTThe Silverline Powerboat took to the water for Coniston Power Boat Records Week, and smashed the Marathon Class A British Record hitting speeds of 109.8mph.Coniston Power Boat Records Week is the only event in the Powerboat Racing Calendar to bring together all classes of boat. Entry is open to all from tiny hydroplanes, through inshore circuit racers to the largest offshore boats. It is the finale to the racing season. Competitors and officials from all over the country assemble annually for what has been a popular event since it's inception in 1970.For almost a hundred years Powerboat record attempts have been made on several of the English lakes including Ullswater, Windermere and Coniston Water.The most famous drivers have been Sir Henry Segrave, Sir Malcolm Campbell and Donald Campbell. Norman Buckley, was instrumental in the inauguration of Records Week and together with The Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club, had various courses on Windermere surveyed. In the mid 1990's One, Two and Three Hour Records were attempted during the annual Enduro, which took place at the end of Records Week.Following the introduction of the Winderemere speed limit in early 2005, and after a good deal of effort from many volunteers, Records Week 2005 took place on Coniston Water over a newly surveyed kilometre course.Coniston, the "spiritual" home of Record breaking, since the Campbells, is most welcoming to Records Week. Drivers, support crews, officials, families and spectators are most welcome to enjoy the beautiful Coniston area, surrounded by its spectacular mountain scenery.http://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=29Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet driver Jason Plato has won the British Touring Car Drivers’ Championship, making it the perfect end to the Cruze’s first ever season in the series.The remarkable achievement came with a textbook display of driving at Brands Hatch in the last meeting of the season, which started with a lap record and a pole position on Saturday, and ended with two superbly clean victories on Sunday. Having put the Cruze on pole position in style, Jason went on to show a clean pairof heels to his rivals after one of the series’ closest-fought title battles, which could have seen any one of four drivers take the title.Tom Onslow-Cole’s chances finished early with a gearbox problem in race one, while Gordon Shedden’s title dreams were shattered in race two, suffering mechanical failure before the start of the race. Matt Neal took the battle to the wire in his Honda, but despite his best efforts could not deny Jason, who got off to two spectacular starts in the day’s first two races, to pull out a decent lead and drive two superb, clean and uneventful races from pole position to victory, with only a false alarm over a suspected puncture four laps from the end of the first race breaking an otherwise calm and collected raceday.By the end of the second race, Jason’s two victories were sufficient to ensure that no rival could beat his points tally, winning him his second BTCC title and his first since 2001. “It’s the perfect end to an amazing season”, said Jason. “It took us a while to get going but by the end of the season we had a car that was unbeatable, thanks in no small part to the hard work and dedication of my team. We knew we could do it, and we did!”The drivers’ title is a remarkable achievement for both Jason and the Silverline Chevrolet team, run by  Wellingborough-based RML Group. 2010 marked the team’s first ever BTCC season with the Cruze, and Chevrolet’s first ever official involvement as a manufacturer.As well as taking the title, Plato scored a further achievement at Brands, after his victory on Race Two brought his total number of BTCC wins to 60, equalling Andy Rouse’s record.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=24Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMTJason Plato continues to lead the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, extending his lead over Matt Neal to 17 points in what has without doubt been one of the most tense, yet exhilarating of touring car race meetings this year for the Silverline Chevrolet team. And despite a punishing first race ending Jason’s hopes of a strong  result in the gravel trap, the championship leader put in two of his finest drives of the year to take two third place finishes and secure a protective margin going into the championship climax at Brands Hatch in three weeks’ time.In the first of the day’s races Jason’s hope of triumph turned to frustration on lap thirteen following contact with championship rival, Matt Neal. Contact between Jason and Matt resulted in an ailing Honda spearing across thetrack, collecting up the island barriers and impacting Jason’s Cruze as he went, forcing the Jason wide and into the run off barriers on the exit. With significant damage to the front left corner and front suspension, Jason’s racecame to a bitterly disappointing premature end.In contrast there was much to celebrate for Alex MacDowall in the sister Cruze, finishing an impressive 4th from 10th on the grid. Off the line Alex maintained position and, despite slipping down to 13th, was soon backfighting for position at the front end of the field. With chaos removing a collection of front runners, Alex kept a cool focus to avoid the unravelling carnage ahead and, closing right onto Jackson’s tail the Cruze was on goodform but yellow flags into the hairpin on the final lap would prevent the potential for any further door-to-door racing.Speaking after the incident, Jason said: “Matt got inside Onslow-Cole on the back straight and then I got a good run on Matt. The plan was to follow him through on the inside but as he (Matt) got on the brakes a bit early, I justcaught him a little bit. Then he had a slide and bounced off the barriers, spearing back into me. It’s a racing incident which certainly wasn’t in the game plan, but these things happen.”Of his points-scoring 4th place finished, Alex summarised: “I got quite a good start but the guys on the inside didn’t, forcing me round the outside into the first corner. Cars were making moves up the inside so I was pushed onto the grass. I saw the carnage at the front of the chicane so managed to capitalise on that. By keeping the pace and getting a better exit I jumped a few and worked my way up to 4th.”Jason’s stunning race two drive crucially kept his title rivals at bay with Neal and Onslow-Cole both enduring tough races. By lap two alone Jason had diced his way through the field and was running in 9th, but the race was farfrom over for the championship hopeful. From a brief safety car period, Jason breezed ahead of Lea Wood and Tom Boardman in one swoop and went on to collect an all-important fastest lap championship point. Jason commented: “Pleased with that! It was a bit of damage limitation there really and that’s the nice thing about this result – immediately after race one the team got to work on my car and put tremendous effort in – there was a lot of work to do new doors and front and rear suspension as well as engine checks, so this result is a ‘JP thank you’ to them.”It was an active race for Alex too, spending much of it in the mix with the leading pack until, coming under attack from Kane and team-mate Jason, Alex was forced to deploy avoiding action and, in missing the island tyrebarrier at the chicane, ran wide across the gravel. Alex finished 11th.The third and final race of the day proved fruitful once again for Jason, storming through to take 3rd place, claiming fastest laps honours en route, and increasing his points tally to 224 points, 17 clear of second-placed rival, Matt Neal on 207. With Shedden just 4 points behind Neal and Onslow-Cole on 200, the championship fight finale at Brands Hatch looks set to be one of the closest in recent years.Jason commented: “Brands Hatch is going to be really exciting it’s all to play for, although I’d have liked more of a buffer. I wanted to get ahead of Andrew and I knew that it would take a mistake from him. I got a good lunge and managed to get through. You have to think about points, but I knew I was right alongside him so the line was mine. A big thanks goes out to my team for all their efforts, skill and dedication. It just shows if you dig deep you can get a result. We’ve had a good day.”The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship showdown will reach its verdict on the 9th &amp 10th October for the season finale at Brands Hatch.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=23Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMTAfter the promising performance increase we had in Hockenheim, it was decided that in order to increase our chances of a good performance at the European Finals any opportunity to test would have to be taken.So,  Sunday 5th September found us at Santa Pod for the “Peak Performance Practice Day” one week before the final race.After our runs in Hockenheim we could see that the performance in the early part of the run was down in our 60 ft and 330 ft times, therefore the object today was to work on the start line and short track performance,  so only half track runs at most were needed to do this.  Not only is it easier and quicker to do the maintenance between runs but it also saves money and possible engine damage and still gives the data and times we need.Well the first attempt resulted in smoking the tyres instantly at the hit of the throttle, possibly we had overestimated the track and needed to be a little less aggressive with the engine and clutch settings.  The second attempt was much better .995 @ 60 ft, exceeding our best 60 ft in Hockenheim.Wednesday 8th September “Pro Peak Performance Day” and our next opportunity to do some testing.  The day did not start off too well !!  After the warm up when checking the valve lash I found some of the locking screws retaining the rocker shafts were broken.  As they had only been replaced a week ago they must certainly be defective, so the  decision was made to replace them all with the previous ones.  Not an easy task as the broken bits were stuck in the rocker stands.  However, with some effort and some help from Pete and his Tig welder ( from Bert and Andy’s team) we got them out and sorted ready to make a run at 1 o’clock.  First pass of the day for us and a very satisfactory improvement,  again an early shutoff before 300 ft and an improved 60 ft  of .987.After maintenance and further adjustments we came to the line again at 3.30 pm.  This time I stayed on the throttle a little longer, just under 3 seconds, now the 60 ft is better again at .962 and the 330 ft time 2.46 equated to at least a mid 5.30 if it had been a full pass.So far as testing was concerned that was mission accomplished, no damage and a much improved 60 ft time, .962 compared to our best in Hockenheim .999. FRIDAYOvernight rain of almost Biblical proportions did its absolute best to wash any track prep and rubber away that had been so carefully applied by the track crew earlier in the week and during the first day of Sportsman qualifying, but as you would expect from them they carried on drying and preparing the track even through the drizzle which lasted most of the morning.  The rain finally stopped around 12 o’clock  and by 2 o’clock the qualifying could begin with TMD quite a way down the running order of classes which meant we came to the startline around 5 pm, by which time the wind and the cold had quite an effect on everybody and the track.  The track was surprisingly good due to the track crew’s ongoing efforts and it was a great pity we did not take advantage of that!!  The run was doomed before I hit the throttle, an incorrect fuel system setting on the startline restricted us to a very lazy 5.97 @ 234 mph, not the result we wanted and all my own doing.  However, no damage or problems after the run in spite of our incorrect setting gave us food for thought, so maybe every cloud does have a silver lining!!SATURDAYA bright and sunny start to the day and on our second qualifier no mistakes, we go from zero to hero for once with a 5.48 @ 258 mph which makes us number one qualifier at that point, but there is so much more performance in the car if only we can figure out how to use it!!Next qualifier we turn the power up as it’s our last qualifier and we are now in number 3 spot.  We want to see what the track can hold, but we overestimate again resulting in instant tyre smoke and a final qualifying position of number 5.So we now knew what was needed to run 5.48 and also what is too aggressive a setting and in the first round tomorrow we will have to try to take the weather and track conditions into account and find a setting in-between  the  two which will work  better.SUNDAY – RACE DAYDue to our qualifying position we race Peter Schofer in the first round.  We have raced each other many times over the years and usually our reaction times are similar, so the car with the best performance on the day is probably going to win.  As Peter qualified with a 5.47 against our 5.48 and we know both cars are capable of running as good as low 5.30’s on their day, it really is anybodies race. And so it was all the way to the finish, Peter slightly ahead on reaction time and us slightly ahead on performance.Result we win by 16 inches.However it did not come without cost.  When we return to the pit we know the engine is hurt.  First we remove the cylinder heads and sure enough four pistons are damaged and we decide we can repair that. We have spare pistons, liners and cylinder heads in the trailer courtesy of our sponsors Silverline Tools and PlayStation.Then we discover that the engine has also broken all the bolts on the starter coupling.  As we had already started on the repairs to the engine, I take the starter coupling from the spare engine but find I can’t fit it due to parts of the broken bolts being stuck in the crank!At this point we have to change our plan to repair the engine and fit the spare instead.  By now we are way behind getting ready for the semi final run but our opponent is also in trouble and having to change engines so all is still to play for (this is when races can get won or lost in the pits).The crew are putting maximum effort into the repairs and engine change.  We have all practiced doing this and if we had not attempted to repair the first engine we would be finishing off by now instead of continuing with maximum effort on what seemed a hopeless task, and then spots of rain begin to fall! Maybe we will get more time giving renewed energy and urgency to our efforts.Then the rain stops and shortly after our opponent towed by with his crew literally sitting on the engine still bolting parts on!!  We still carry on, anything could still happen!  But as we are fitting the cylinder heads the first pair of cars fire up for the semi finals, but still we carry on as if one of the cars should oil the track or it should start to rain again, we could still make it.  The first semi final runs without incident and the order is given to fire up the second pair.Now and only now do we all down tools.But there is still another sting in the tail for us!!!  Our opponent who is on the start line cannot get his engine to fire up due to an ignition problem, probably caused by the rush to get his engine changed.  So if we could have got there with any cylinders firing  we could still have won the race!!You make your choices, whether its tune ups or engine changes.  It sometimes will make the difference between winning and losing. Obviously it wasn’t our day!  But on the up side the weekend saw an increase in our performance which with a few further small adjustments would see us back to the performance levels we enjoyed a year ago. It’s been a very difficult year with all sorts of unexpected setbacks and problems. But we have seen a number of modifications to different areas of the car work very successfully, the benefit of which will show when we get our tune up back on track.http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=25Sun, 12 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMTAmidst three dramatic races in today’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, both Silverline Chevrolet drivers starred in moments of glory – the first being Alex’s superb first race of the day, in which he charged his way to second place, resisting the ever present pressure from Matt Neal. Jason’s ‘champagne moment’ came in race three with a mature drive, and championship in mind, to take victory from the third row of the grid.Losing ground to Shedden off the line in the first race, Alex tucked back into second but refusing to give in too easily, clung to the Honda, narrowly avoiding trouble as Shedden saved a big slide into the first corner. Despite two restarts during the race to clear stray cars and debris, Alex maintained momentum and held position to the end.Alex summarised: “I didn’t make the best start, but I know how strong the car is so I was able to make up for that. I was carrying more speed then Shedden, so perhaps he was trying to back me up into Matt, but I wasn’t having that – I just wanted to get on with it and try and steal the lead! I didn’t quite manage that, despite putting him under pressure, but second is a fantastic result. The Silverline Chevrolet Cruze is the car to be in here, we’ve got a great partnership.”In the sister Cruze, Jason had a tough race with the additional weight hurting his straight line speed. From the start Jason got a clean getaway but a big lock up into the hairpin by the 8th lap allowed Kane and Chilton to squeeze through, demoting Jason to 6th. With the Cruze working well through the tight, twisty corners – a benefit of the front-wheel drive cars here, Jason managed to close in on the leading pack and crossed the line just behind in 6th place. Importantly for the championship, Neal finished 5th and Onslow-Cole 7th.A disappointing start from Alex saw him pull to the left in race two, allowing team-mate Jason through, closely followed by Tom Chilton, who in turn just stretched ahead of the Cruze into the hairpin. With Jason running 5th and Alex 7th, the safety car was deployed to clear the collision of Collard and Pinkney. On the restart a fierce move from O’Neill pushed Alex wide into the hairpin, allowing Jordan to slip through too. Alex was now running in 9th. A lap later, Neal took the lead from team-mate Shedden but the racing was far from over. Some scrappy laps ensued from the leading Honda Racing duo, allowing the pack to bunch up, edging Jason ever closer. By lap 23  Jason made a clean, calculated pass and was immediately all over Kane’s tail, inching him just wide enough to sneak ahead as Kane locked up.Jason said: “I’m reasonably happy with 3rd it’s a good result having started 6th. There was no way passed the car ahead of me, despite being in the quicker car but as the race went on, I knew I had to find a way through because once ahead, I was able to unleash the true pace of my lighter Cruze. The weight removal made a huge impact on my straight line speed and the car handled better under braking into the hairpin where I’d initially been struggling".And on his Kane pass, Jason adds: “Well, we both went to the inside but he locked up more than me so I just edged ahead, but these things happen.”The reverse grid lottery favoured Onslow-Cole for pole, with Jason starting from 5th and Alex 9th. A great start from Jason promoted him to 3rd from the first corner before a risky move from Jackson over Onslow-Cole went wrong for the Airwaves BMW team, but right for Jason who moved into second place.As several fell foul of the usual race three dramas, including championship hopeful, Shedden, Jason didn’t put a foot wrong, launching himself ahead of Onslow-Cole on lap 23. In claiming his 58th career win, Jason has now built his championship lead to 202 points.  Matt remains 2nd with 182 points and Onslow-Cole third with 178.Speaking after race three, Jason commented: “I’m really pleased with that. We had to work really hard to outfox the Ford there. It’s been a mixed weekend for me but this win is a great result for all of us. It’s great for the guys, they work so hard and we needed to get some extra points.As in race two, I was a lot quicker than the Ford, but just couldn’t find a way past. Once we get clear air, we can really use the Cruze – it corners well and brakes well – everything a race car should do. We’re in a nice position with a great car beneath us.”Donington Park hosts rounds 25,-27 on 18th &amp 19th September.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=22Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMTJason Plato has crucially maintained his lead in the championship despite a challenging third race as the championship battles heats up with Tom Onslow-Cole now clinching second place from Matt Neal. Collecting a string of points-scoring finishes with 3rd, 4th and 9th in today’s three MSA British Touring Car Championship races,  Jason’s points tally now amounts to 171. And with team-mate, Alex MacDowall, regaining momentum and finishing 4th, 9th &amp 10th, the Silverline Chevrolet duo are on target for an exciting second half of the season as the championship fight shapes up.Off the line Jason took 3rd from Alex in the morning’s first race, closing in to within 0.8s of the leading Aon Ford pairing, but despite nose to tail racing with Onslow-Cole, Jason was unable to make a sensible pass – still carrying the penalty of a hefty 45kgs success ballast. Benefitting from a lighter Cruze, Alex was showcasing the car’s pace and performance, defending from Jordan and increasing the pressure on Jason. In securing the third step of the podium, Jason advanced his lead to 27 points clear of 8th place finisher, Matt Neal.In the second race Jason took 4th place and Alex 9th amid bumps and scrapes aplenty for their championship competitors. It was a frustrating start to the race with a less than perfect getaway from Jason and wheelspin for Alex hampering their chances of making an impression on the Ford duo ahead. Running 5th and 6th, both drivers’ lucked in with the early departure from Jordan due to a puncture, but as Jason progressed, Alex suffered bodywork, exhaust and rear bumper damage from a forceful manoeuvre from O’Neill, pushing him ackwards down the field. But by the 14th lap, Alex had worked his way to tag onto the back of the leading train. And has Jason’s mirrors warned of Neal’s approaching Honda, a late move from O’Neill forced Neal wide, meaning any concerns the team had for a showdown between the top title protagonists was short lived.Jason finished 4th and Alex 9th. The reverse grid lottery promised for an enthralling final race with Jason starting from 3rd and Alex from 9th, but the Silverline Chevrolet team fell victim to the touring car tradition of race three  chaos. Contact between Jason and Neal out of the apex forced Jason into a slide, running wide at Copse in the effort to recover. From here his race was heavily compromised, rejoining down in 17th. Alex’s start fared no better with his engine bogging down on the grid, his car hardly moving as the red lights went out, resulting in a huge hit from an unsighted Depper behind.Despite the opening drama, both Jason and Alex forged ahead to finish 9th and 10th, both in the points. Jason maintains the lead in the Drivers’ Championship with 171 points. Tom Onslow-Cole now moves into second, 14 points behind with 157 and Matt Neal has slipped to third with 148 points.Scotland’s Knockhill hosts the next race on the calendar in just two weeks’ time.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=19Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMTIf you have been reading my race reports this year no doubt you will have noticed the number of times this year either our racing or qualifying has been curtailed by wet weather.  Well not this weekend, at least not until after our first round against Krister Johansson which he won, but could not continue due to the weather and time constraints.FRIDAYSo for our first qualifying attempt in Germany we still had the motor and set up which we had installed in Sweden but never got a chance to try.Unlike in Sweden where we were due to try it in the first round of eliminations and would have had to risk all or nothing! In trying it for the first time in qualifying at Hockenheim we would be able to do a partial run to 1000 ft and check engine condition afterwards in order to reduce the risk of engine damage and still get a good enough time to qualify. Good plan and it worked, shut off after 4.5 sec @ 1000 ft.  No engine problems and qualified No.4 and our best 1/8 mile speed all year, 226 mph. For our second qualifier we just made some small adjustments to our fuel system and planned to run the full distance under power this time.  Not quite as good a time in the first half of the track (maybe due to a difference in the left and right lane) but an improvement overall to 5.50 @ 264 mph and still qualified in No.4 position and the engine responded to our adjustments in the way we expected and that’s a great feeling after the struggle we have had this year.SATURDAYAfter yesterdays performance and the data we had been able to look at after two runs in a row, we made some further changes in the same direction but to a greater degree and fitted our new wheels and tyres.Maybe too big a role of the dice? but “nothing ventured nothing gained”.The result of all this was unknown after the run as we were struck down by an old problem that we have suffered intermittently since we started!!  Sometimes the engine just stumbles instead of getting the “revs up” and burning out properly, this wasn’t helped by me trying to start another burn out without backing up into the water box again.  That failed just like the first one and also succeeded in over heating the clutch and ruining its carefully applied setting (I’ve now made a solemn promise to all the crew to never, never, ever, do it again!!).Needless to say the result was almost instant tyre smoke at the green light due to unscrubbed tyres and a red hot clutch, and just maybe we had more power as well after our more aggressive changes to the engine.  For our second qualifying run today and the last before eliminations we changed back to our old tyres as they were used and a known quantity and changed my burnout procedure slightly as we have to find an answer to this problem permanently.Good result!  Great burnout no problems all the way down the track the car was on the edge of smoking the tyres but they just held on, although they were slipping enough at the top end of the track to make me do some extensive steering in order to stay in my lane.  Despite which we got our best time of the weekend, 5.48 @ 260 mph so our engine changes seemed to be progressing in the direction we expected again, just maybe “there is a light at the end of the tunnel”.SUNDAYThere had been a considerable change in the weather overnight with a drop in temperature, this probably would mean more power and less traction, not quite what we needed after being on the edge of traction the day before.  So we had to reduce power in some way or increase traction, so of course we did both.In these situations where the track or weather has changed overnight you always end up having to guess what setting to use.I think we got pretty close, we ran 5.50 @ 262 mph, slightly slower but with no wheel spin at all.  Successful except our competitor ran 5.49.  The slightly better time he had plus a problem I had with the tree lights while staging the car saw the win  light in his lane, so our race was over.However, with the results we got from our tune up this weekend we do feel the car is starting to respond as we expect and with a possible two days testing before the final race we hope to crack the problem and return to our old form.http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=20Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMTJason Plato took a fantastic double victory in today’s MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Snetterton, propelling him back into the championship lead as Matt Neal’s hopes of strong results flailed with a puncture from the first race. Jason now leads with 151 points, 20 points clear of Neal.Making a great start off the line for the first of three races, Jason was looking strong despite Jackson trying to throw him into error as he chased him over the midway laps, nose to tail. A couple of fastest laps from the Airwaves BMW man did little to dent Jason’s focus as he tucked into his reserves and pulled out a comfortable two second gap, which he maintained to the flag. Jason’s third win of the season pushed him back to the top of the leader board with 128 points, including one for his fastest lap set in the closing stages, to Neal’s 119.In stark contrast it was a bitterly disappointing race for pole-sitter, Alex MacDowall and his Silverline Chevrolet team. A broken gear lever forced Alex to pull over from the start, robbing him of the opportunity of should have been a great finish for the Chevrolet Cruzes. Alex returned to the pits for the team to inspect in preparation for race two.Speaking after the first race, Jason summarised: “The break has really helped us. It’s given us time to really understand how to improve the car. That gap has been worth its weight in gold, followed by a successful test here a couple of weeks ago. For the first half of the race I was struggling against understeer in the high speedcorners, but compared to the start of the season, we’ve now got a car where we can really attack. It’s working better for us now. This was an important win for us, with a great points haul over Matt. It’s a shame for him, but I’ll take those points!”Of his race, Alex commented: “Obviously it’s disappointing. Starting from pole we had it all to play for, but it just didn’t work out. I’m doing the best I can., as are the team, it’s not their fault, we’ve just had some bad luck. After I pitted I was a couple of tenths off Jason’s fastest lap, on a heavier fuel load so we’ve got the pace. We should have been challenging for a 1-2.” Jason proved unstoppable in race two, leading from start to finishing andperfectly controlling the race to add a second victory to his tally and crucially, extending his lead over Neal by twenty-four points.With Jackson and the Aon Ford pairing of Chilton and Onslow-Cole enduring a three-way battle, Jason was left to race clear ahead, extending his lead to four seconds over 2nd place. Alex’s frustration continued into race two. Having made contact with independent racer, Lea Wood, Alex was knocked out of shape, hitting the kerb hard in an effort to avoid further accident. Significant damage was sustained to the Cruze’s sump and he was forced into retirement. The team set to work to replace for race three.Jason enthused, “We’ve just really got the car where we want it over the seven week break. Now that we’ve got a handle on the car, we really have made some big gains. I knew from race one we still had more to come. I got a good first lap and gained a comfortable lead. The performance is there, we made some decent changes to the car, such as roll bars and dampers and now that Chevrolet Cruze is phenomenal to drive. We really have just got it where we need it."Race three proved less eventful for the Silverline Chevrolet duo. Lining up 9th and 16th on the grid in the absence of Andrew Jordan who didn’t make it to the grid, Jason fought his way through to 5th place, but was unable to make an impression on the Ford ahead. Team-mate Alex worked his way through to finish 13th.Jason retains his championship lead with 151 points, Neal is 2nd in the standings on 131 points and Shedden rounds out the top three with 127 points.  The MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Silverstone for rounds 19, 20 &amp 21 in two weeks’ time on the 21st &amp 22nd August 2010.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=18Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMTAfter the race at Alastaro  and having made adjustments to the engine tune up which increased our performance from 5.75 Et @ 260mph to 5.37 ET @ 273 mph we felt we could congratulate ourselves for finding the right direction to improve our performance this year.Well once we got around to qualifying at the next race at Mantorp Park  in Sweden some doubt began to creep in regards our performance gains, but then it became apparent that we were not the only team experiencing an unexplained lack of performance.  It seemed to me that a number of cars in our class were running somewhat slower than I would have expected which left us after the first qualifying session in 4th place with a run of 5.65 @ 265 mph, overall a very satisfactory performance compared with the rest of the nine cars attempting to qualify for this race.Strangely the lack of performance problems seemed to affect the nitro engine cars like ours much more so although we were overall qualified 4th we were by far the quickest of the nitro fuelled cars.We had been a little conservative with our engine settings on the first qualifier partly due to the track being a somewhat unknown quantity having been resurfaced for the first half, but the track crew had obviously done an excellent job of preparing it in recent weeks and was better than we expected, all it needed was more cars running on it to put more rubber on the surface.Unfortunately the weather then threw a spanner in the works by raining and preventing any more runs on Friday.SATURDAYFor the first qualifier we made changes to the car to increase power and performance, but either we were wrong or the right lane we were running in (as against the left on Friday) was not as good!  Our time had dropped off at 5.74 @ 254 mph. That led to a serious rethink of what we had changed between the first two runs, so for our third and final qualifying run we made some changes that took us in a different direction with regards to tuning the engine.The result was an improved ET overall but more significantly it was greatly improved at the start line and the first part of the track (an area where our performance had been lacking lately).SUNDAYIn view of our good performance at Mantorp Park last year when we were able to run 5.301 ET @ 273 mph and taking into account the new improved grip in the track after qualifying on Saturday we made the decision to change our new engine for our old one and return our complete tune up back to exactly what it was a year ago to see if we could come close to that performance and maybe re-establish a baseline to work from.After making the decision to do that at 5 pm on Saturday, the crew went about the task brilliantly.  The aim was to have the changes (motor and Fuel System) done by 9 pm Saturday evening as the noise curfew comes into force at that time, therefore, you cannot start your engine after that until 9 am the next day, which would be less than 1 hour before the scheduled first race for us.  So the importance of having crew willing and able to get the job done in the allotted time just can’t be over stressed and as I expected they all rose to the occasion and the engine burst into life at 9.53 pm and ran perfectly during the warm up ready for race day,  and still time for a barbeque and a few beers.Race day morning dawned bright and sunny but the weather forecast was for periods if rain later.  Well it came earlier than expected and before our run could take place the track needed to be dried and prepared, but despite the valiant efforts of the track crew with sweepers, track driers and anything else they could lay their hands on, every time they got the track into a “go condition” down would come some more rain and they would have to start again and I’m sorry to say finally “the rain won”!!Which leaves us in a state of suspended animation to see how we can run at the next race in 2 weeks at Hockenheim in Germany?http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=21Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMTTransportation to Sardinia was a more straight forward exercise compared to the beginning of the season. Our logistics expert Keith Fear made the journey in three days from our base in the South West to Poltu Quatu on the North coast of Sardinia. Arriving ahead of schedule Team Silverline was the first of the Teams to arrive and took the prime spot in the dry pitts. The remainder of the team flew from London and upon our arrival we had the luxury of the whole Silverline camp having been established and set up for us by Keith.Having travelled from Malta to the UK for an engine rebuild, following the Malta Grand Prix, we had also had the opportunity of a days testing in Torbay two days before everything left for Sardinia. The testing went well so our arrival in Sardinia we were all set for practise on the race course at the first opportunity.The weather in Sardinia was 40 degrees Celsius and conditions in the cockpit were extremely warm with race suits and life jackets. Some teams used ice filled waistcoats and others water cooling suits, we settled for Skins cooling vests with ice spray which helped a little.Friday was Power Pole day and team Silverline achieved the 5th fastest lap due to a complication with planing the boat on the start run, to which we have now designed a modification to aerate the super cavitation propellers for faster acceleration from a standing start. In the Supersport class team Rotary Watches nose dived in a patch of rough water resulting in the front 3 metres of the boat being broken off. The crew were taken to hospital and remained there for the week end. The throttleman suffered a dislocated shoulder, fractured leg and head injuries while the driver suffered a broken nose and black eyes. The remainder of the boat was badly damaged from the impact and soon sank in 80-90 metres of water and is feared lost.The remainder of Powerpole ran with out incident.Saturdays racing was in the continuing heat of 38-40 degrees and on route to the racecourse just off the town of Porto Cervo there were many pleasure boats between the islands which held up Team Silverline. A radio message was sent to the start boat informing them of our delay and confirmed, however when we had cleared the spectator boats we found that the start had already commenced. We continued along the start run but were almost half a lap behind. We pushed hard to try and make up ground which was successful however as this was the sprint race we had insufficient time to make up sufficient ground. We successfully finished in fifth place. Following the race we made our representations to the race committee however the start official thought we had made the start line and had difficulty looking into the sun towards the fleet with all the spray. Apologies were made by the start officials but unfortunately we had no recourse. First place went to Italian team Mettamarine, second to Lucas oil and third to Ukranean Spirit. Upon examination of the lap times our times were similar to the Ukranean Spirit with some very close to Lucas Oil.Sundays race was in the same conditions as Saturdays race, this time a false start complicated procedures resulting in a poor starting position for Silverline, however by the first buoy we had caught the fleet and heading down the straight section of the course we had moved into fifth position with the fourth place very close by. Hitting 104mph at the end of the straight we had a hydraulic steering junction failure resulting in a rapid loss of hydraulic steering fluid and consequently no steering. We managed to bring the boat to a halt without incident but unfortunately our race was over. First place went to Belgian team Furnibo, second Mettamrine and third Ukranean Spirit.Team Silverline is now back in the UK and making preperations for the Marathon Series World Cup, starting with the Needles trophy off Bournemouth Bay 14th August, won by Team Silverline in 2009, followed by the Cowes Torquay Cowes race and the International Harmsworth trophy on August Bank Holiday week end.  Pictures by GrandPrixoftheSea.com - Karel Overlaethttp://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=16Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT“Close but no cigar” would seem to be the phrase to sum up our results in Alastaro, Finland.First we embarked on our ferry trip to Gothenberg Sweden for the first leg of our trip to Finland and 24 hours later arrived in Oslo,  Norway (well I suppose you could call that close!). Pity that nobody thought to mention that sometimes the boat goes to Oslo first and then arrives at Gothenberg 24 hours later.As we had to catch the next ferry to Finland that night another day at sea was not going to work for us, so a hasty negotiation with the captain saw us being allowed to land in Norway and start our drive to Stockholm late and with an extra 300 kms to travel, we made it and caught the Tuesday morning boat instead which allowed us to arrive at the track Tuesday night ready to prepare for racing on Friday.That may seem like a lot of time to get ready but it takes nearly two days to wash the truck, get parked, unloaded, the pit and awning erected, the necessary paperwork and inspections done ready for the rest of the team to fly in and arrive at the track Thursday evening.  However you could not wish for a more pleasant setting as the track is in the Finnish countryside, very peaceful, until we arrive!!Day one of qualifying as you will know from our Main Event report the new short engine was not performing as expected. Some time was spent at the workshop trying to establish the cause, in the end only one difference could be found compared to the original engine.  Somewhere in the manufacture of our new parts we had lost a considerable amount of compression and this was going to be our first chance to see if correcting that was going to help.Well the first run resulted in a 5.75 ET @260 MPH, on the face of it not much different to the last race, but it did sound better and it was a very conservative tune up to guarantee a run from start to finish without losing traction and smoking the tyres as you learn nothing when you do that.Second qualifier, a slightly more aggressive tune up this time we wanted to improve the time but as we had not yet run in the right hand lane to test the traction we did not want to overdo it.  We need not have worried about the track, it's probably the best I’ve seen it since I’ve been going there. The result was a more pleasing 5.56 ET @ 257 MPH just about the improvement we wanted to show that we were doing the right things with the car. Second day of qualifying given the data and results from yesterday we felt that we could now get much more aggressive with the tune up and car settings.  The track seemed very good and we thought it would probably take any horsepower we wanted to give it, and it did.Even though not a completely straight run (a little out of the groove at the top end) and possibly a slightly early shut off due to the difficulty in finding the finish line (over night they added 100 metres of barrier past the finish line which confused things a little at 260 MPH).  Still we ran 5.38 ET @ 265 MPH to put us at the head of the field as No.1 qualifier with one more qualifying run to go.Having found some of our performance again we made some changes to the car for the last run of the day to try to establish where we could improve more and it certainly did not hurt us. Our 60 ft time improved again and our top speed improved again for the third run in a row to keep us at number 1 with a 5.37 ET @ 268 MPH. Race day whilst we have got back a lot of our previous performance one area where we have struggled so far this year is the time it takes for the car to pick up from a standstill and get moving.Sometimes you can see this in our struggle to get a burnout going and our very unimpressive reaction times.  Now this can be a function of the driver failing to react (me) or the car failing to react (the tune up) or both.Well in the first round race with Dennis Habermann this problem finally caught us out.  He and his car reacted much better than us and despite running another consistent 5.38 ET @ and increased 273 MPH he got to the finish line 39 cm ahead of us.Result, one happy German and an early bath for us.We are now back on track with the performance we had last year and having a serious look at why the car's not reacting on the start line.The next race in Sweden at Mantorp Park is coming up soon so EVERYBODY BETTER WATCH OUT!Dave WilsonPictures: Pits © Christer Abrahamson, Eurodragster.com &amp track © Rose Hughes/Ivan Sansom http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=17Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMTYorkshire Tees up BTCC title battle…The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is wide open at the halfway point in the season, after a dramatic weekend at Croft saw mixed fortunes for the Silverline Chevrolet Team.Jason Plato put in an impressive performance in race one, climbing his way from sixth on the grid to take a third-place podium finish. Team-mate Alex MacDowall started well in third, but dropped down to 13th overall thanks to accelerated tyre wear caused by an early incident.Race two saw a three-way battle for the lead between Plato and the two Hondas, with Gordon Shedden taking outright victory after a thrilling race. Meanwhile, MacDowall thrilled the crowds, and the TV cameras, as he tried to pick his way through the midfield from 13th on the grid, demolishing two tyre walls and showing the crowd just how to bruise a Cruze, as he powered his way into the points, finishing 9th overall.“I got into a big battle in the middle of the pack, and the only way to get through was to try and find the gaps. I kind of found them – I like to think I was just trying to keep the tyres cool,” said the Carlisle-based 19-year old.The BTCC’s reverse grid system favoured eventual winner Andrew Jordan’s Pirtek car in the third race of the season, with Plato starting from fifth and MacDowall, whose car looked as good as new despite finishing the second race in a somewhat battered condition, starting from ninth.Things looked good for Jason in the final race of the day, as he battled his way up to third on the first lap. But a puncture on lap three saw his Silverline-backed Cruze having to pit, putting him out of contention. Plato managed to put in a fastest lap on his return to the field, though, while Matt Neal suffered similar tyre misfortune – the trials and tribulations of an action-packed afternoon’s racing leaving the top two drivers in the championship exactly as they were before Croft with an eight-point gap – all to play for in the last five rounds of the season. MacDowall, meanwhile, ensured the Silverline Chevrolet team acquired another point to help their title bid, bringing his Cruze home a solid 10th, despite being pushed around in the middle rankings.With everything to run for at the halfway stage in the season, the Silverline Chevrolet team is hopeful of making serious headway in the second half of the season, in both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. Just one weekend’s racing could change the complete order in both championships.“We took a bit of a penalty with the weight ballast today, which on a fast circuit like Croft meant we couldn’t exploit the car as much as we’d wished,” said Plato. “But we put in some good, solid races and some valuable points on the board – there’s a long way to go. It’s all shaping up nicely for an exciting second half of the season.”The BTCC now takes a short summer break, with the next round at Snetterton, Norfolk, on Sunday August 8. In the meantime, for pictures of the action at Croft, a Father’s Day video featuring Jason, Alex and their Dads, and a host of other interactive features, visit www.chevroletbtcc.co.uk http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=13Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMTTransportation from the Ukraine to Malta was via three ships but a little easier on the equipment. Malta is a venue we have been racing at for seven years and it is always good to return here with very helpful and friendly people. Malta usually produces rough water conditions for racing as a very long fetch can be achieved at this part of the Mediterranean Sea.Having had a major engine failure in the Ukraine our engineers were dispatched to Malta one week early to remove the broken engine, re-fresh the spare engine and install. We always carry a spare engine for situations like this as the rig will remain overseas for most or all of the season. Our spare engine this year is one of our running engines from the second half of last years racing as two completely new engines were installed for this years racing. The re-fresh consisted of new piston rings, main bearings, big-end shells, head inspection, two new ignition modules and new gasket sets.Our testing on the Friday went according to plan with light running to break in the re-fresh unit. All seemed to be going according to plan with very good boat balance and handling in the choppy waters around Malta.The Power Pole consisted of a high speed run from the open sea right into the bottom of the estuary of Valetta, a spectacular setting and running very close to the shore for the spectators. On our test run on the course we had another ignition failure resulting in one of the new modules burning out so we were unable to complete the Pole run.Hoping for better results on the Saturday we managed to trace all the electrical ignition problems to a faulty pin in the main engine harness which had split and was shorting out to another terminal, this also accounted for the overheated module in the Ukraine as the pin would intermittently short out when the sea was rough the engine harness shook about producing the electrical short.On our way out to the start of the Saturday race we were encountering an intermittent fuel starvation problem with the port engine. We lined up for the start but were unable to maintain our speed and we were forced to retire. The fuel system was stripped down from the inlet manifold to the fuel tank and we discovered that part of the fuel tank inspection hatch gasket had fallen into the bottom of the fuel tank and was blocking the fuel pick up pipe. The boat was rigged with brand new fuel tanks only a few months ago and it seems that a non fuel resistant gasket was used which perished, broke down and dropped into the bottom of the tank. The boat left the Ukraine full of fuel so there were four weeks for this to take place, however it should not have mattered that fuel was in the tank for transporting so we now have a pending action against the tank manufacturer.The Saturday race was won by Belgian Team ING Furnibo, 2nd Italian Team Mettamarine, 3rd Scandanavian/USA Team Lucas Oil.We wished for better luck for the Sunday race. All prepared and raring to go we carried out testing on Sunday morning with some great results, however our testing session was cut short when the belts jumped off of the port engine so we returned to the pitts. This was an easy fix to replace the belts which were newly fitted before the Ukraine race, however one of the belts drives the oil pump and the seconds between noticing the warning light for low oil pressure and switching the engine off while doing over 100mph at 6,000 rpm could produce some damage to the main components running at a lower oil pressure than normal.We had just enough time for a last minute test before the start of the Sunday race with replacement belts fitted, however the engine lasted about 10 seconds on full throttle at a reduced oil pressure before a piston failed. This signalled the end of our Malta Grand Prix.The Sunday race was won by the Italinan team Mattamearine, 2nd German team Searex, 3rd Scandanavian/USA Team Lucas Oil.Pictures by GrandPrixoftheSea.com - Karel Overlaet andhttp://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=15Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet has secured the second win of the season courtesy of Jason Plato, in what proved to be an eventful weekend for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park.A miscalculated move from Jackson in the first of today’s races prevented Jason from challenging for the podium and taking what might have been a heavy points advantage over championship rival, Matt Neal (who eventually finished 8th), when a forceful shove pushed Jason’s Cruze wide off track, skimming the gravel.  He rejoined down in P10.  It was a disappointing end from what had been a race full of potential having started from 3rd on the grid.Alex’s race ran less dramatically, although wasn’t without the excitement of some great racing and tagging from other cars.  Starting 4th on the grid, alongside his team mate, Alex made a good start to maintain position into the first corner and despite the incessant pressure from Chilton’s Ford looking to make a pass, Alex drove with confidence to defend.  A lap 8 pass from Jackson, in which Chilton followed through knocked Alex down to 7th. Race two provided a positive change in fortune, with Jason lining up 10th on the grid and Alex in 7th.  Running without success ballast, Jason made a great start and was already up to an impressive 3rd place, having passed Chilton.A fastest lap from Jason highlighted the potential pace as the Cruze benefited from a lighter load without the success ballast that has been present on his car throughout the season.  By the sixth lap Jason had leapfrogged Jackson into the hairpin and was quickly gaining on Onslow-Cole.  A daring move from Jason propelled him onto the top step of the podium, taking the chequered flag on a damp track. Alex’s race was far from over despite head on contact with Collard who was pushed into a spin on track at the hairpin, left facing the wrong way on lap one.  With cars jostling to avoid the stricken BMW, there was little room for Alex to move and the Cruze sustained some bodywork damage to the front, however he rejoined the pack midfield and worked his way through to an incredibly close finish with Pinkney, finishing 0.043s ahead to finish 9th place, securing his ticket for the race three grid lottery.The draw for race three plotted Alex on pole for the final race on the Cheshire track, his first of the season.  Making a great getaway off the line, Alex led the race with great pace, and following a brief safety car stint, made the best restart to build a gap over Boardman of 0.611s.  The dream start soon turned to bitter disappointment for Alex and team when a driveshaft problem robbed him of a potential maiden BTCC victory. Jason worked his way from 9th on the grid upto 6th place, taking five more vital points to keep his championship fight on track.Jason now lies 2nd in the championship with 90 points, eight shy of leader, Matt Neal.  In the Manufacturer’s, Chevrolet sits 3rd on 181 points.The next round of the BTCC will be held at Croft on Sunday June 20th.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=11Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMTIt's finally time for the first round of the FIA European Championship and after the good but changeable weather we have had lately we were glad to find on Friday that the sun was shining.  But by Saturday, for our first scheduled two rounds of qualifying, it had all changed and a wet track caused us to lose another two qualifying runs (so far this year we have lost the chance to improve our tune up in four runs out of five due to wet or cold tracks).Sunday was an improvement in the weather but with only two chances left to qualify and no real evidence from the quicker cars of how much power the track could hold, we had to approach this first qualifier with a conservative tune up.  The most essential thing at this point is to get from A-B with a good enough time to qualify.  Failure to qualify on this one run could leave us out of the competition if the weather should change again.First qualifying session over we are in No.6 position with a 5.64 et @ 248 mph just about what we aimed at and the track conditions were better than we expected so for the next run we can step up the power to try to improve our time and position.  With adjustments made, we go to the line for our second qualifier.  This time the burnout before the run is much better and gets acclaimed as “burnout of the day” by Eurodragster.com.  Pity there’s no prizes for that!!  The run is a good result 5.42 et @ 265 mph and moves us up to No.4 qualifier.Looking at our performance so far, compared to our competitors we need to step up our performance for the first round of eliminations.For the first round of eliminations on Monday, after carefully checking the engine over we find no abnormal wear or problems, part of which I’m sure is due to our change to Red Line Oil this weekend.Just as the manufacturer’s claim it will not mix with the fuel, it comes out after the run looking like it went in, and provides better lubrication in between than I’ve ever seen.On checking the data from the first two runs we think we can make adjustments to increase performance enough in the next round leaving us with some options to further increase it in the later rounds.Good plan, shame it didn’t work!!  We got beaten by last years champion Timo Habermann.The car did not respond as well as expected after our adjustments and its now becoming apparent that for some reason we are struggling to do burnouts and to make the car respond on the line, but on the positive side we have some championship points, we are taking our brand new motor home in one piece, we have three runs worth of data on it and after checking and more adjustments I’m sure we can do better In Finland.See you there!http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=12Mon, 31 May 2010 00:00:00 GMTKeep your eyes open for the Silverline hot air balloon! Flying around the UK between the months of January to August, the balloon attends a number of different events including balloon fiestas, festivals, sporting events, agricultural shows and many other outdoor events. There is a balloon fiesta somewhere in the UK almost every weekend of the summer!The Silverline Balloon has flown hundreds of miles and reached heights of thousands of feet, criss-crossing the south west of England, as well as attending events across the nation!Some of the events in which the Silverline Balloon has flown include the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, The Exclusive Cup in Gloucestershire, Sudeley Castle Balloon event, and other events in Newbury, Cheltenham, Badminton, Fairford, Northampton and Yorkshire.This year, the Silverline Balloon visits events in Newbury, Gloucestershire and the International Balloon Fiesta in Bristol. The Bristol International Fiesta attracts media from all over the world, and has an attendance approaching 500,000 people!http://www.racingsilverline.com/balloon/news/article/?i=5Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 GMTTravelling to the Ukraine was probably the most difficult logistical exercise we have faced for the delivery of the race boat to an event. Our advice on currency was to take plenty of dollars and cigarettes for the bribes. The trip for the boat was via roads which were often not made up and had an open pot holed surface and also required a military armed guard, with machine guns, for two days of travel through the Ukraine.The rest of the crew travelled by air where we were welcomed by the passport officers of the Ukraine provided we paid them some cash which varied from €20-100.The event location was a welcome sight and of a very high standard, Yalta is like a mini Monaco on the Black Sea, everything had been planned and was well managed. Team Silverline took pole position in the pitts area having the spot nearest the seafront for all the spectators to see.For this season 'Racing Silverline' is a new concept and with a new drive system which was delayed on delivery form the USA meant testing had to be carried out prior to the racing at the week-end.   Everything was settling down well with speeds in the early 100's which was a good start having set a target speed of 110mph.We qualified in powerpole in 6th place and carried out further testing for the saturday race.Saturday's weather produced rough conditions which suited our set-up and we made a good start with close quarter racing with the German entry ' Searex' battling for 5th place. After two laps of the 8 lap race one of the ignition modules overheated and we were forced to retire.1st place went to Italian team SNAV OSG, 2nd Belgina Team ING Furnibo, 3rd Italian Team Mettamarine.Sundays weather had settled down producing flatter conditions. The pole positions remained and we made a good start, maintaining our position, however unfortunately at the end of the first lap we encountered an oil blockage from the dry sump tank to the oil pump which reduced the oil pressure rapidly resulting in an engine seizure forcing a retirement.1st Place was awarded to the Italian Team SNAV OSG, 2nd Mettamarine, 3rd Belgian Team ING Furnibo.Pictures by GrandPrixoftheSea.com -http://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=14Sun, 09 May 2010 00:00:00 GMTThe youngest driver in this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a shining light at a dull and wet Brands Hatch for rounds seven, eight and nine of the series.Nineteen-year old Alex MacDowall came home an impressive third overall in the second of the day’s races to take his first trophy in the series, in a day where the weather dictated the run of events.In a processional first race of the day, the two Silverline Chevrolets came home sixth and eighth, with the youngster in the first of the two distinctive Cruzes to cross the line in extremely difficult weather conditions.“It was very tricky out there,” said MacDowall. “The car was quite stable and gripped well, but the biggest problem was visibility – it’s hard to mount a challenge when you can’t see where you’re going.”But MacDowall really shone in the second of the two races, bringing the Silverline-backed Chevrolet Cruze home in a solid third overall – but didn’t get a chance to celebrate on the podium. The Carlisle youngster didn’t go home empty handed, after provisional winner Tom Chilton’s Ford Focus was disqualified for being under weight and with an incorrect ride height.“I had a great race,” said MacDowall. “After a chaotic weekend at Rockingham I felt I needed to give something back – it was still tricky out there because of the weather, but I was determined to get a good finish.”Championship leader Jason Plato left Brands Hatch still at joint top of the table despite an afternoon of bad luck. An electrical fault in the second of the three races led to an early retirement, while a suspected sensor failure in race three led to a second DNF.MacDowall encountered some bad luck of his own in the final of the day’s three races, after contact with Tom Onslow-Cole’s Ford caused damage to the Cruze’s rear axle, forcing him into the gravel on the exit from Paddock Hill Bend. The damage led to his retirement from the race.The Silverline Chevrolet team are currently second in the manufacturers/constructors’ championship with 139 points – a position the team will build on after a five week break when the BTCC returns on June 6th at Oulton Park in Cheshire.http://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=2Sun, 02 May 2010 00:00:00 GMTHaving secured the first Silverline Chevrolet win in round five of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend at Rockingham, and with Jason Plato and Alex MacDowall carving their mark on the 2010 campaign with a current count of 75 points between them, Silverline Chevrolet now stand at the top of both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ standings.Despite the persistent challenge of increased tyre degradation this weekend, the early signs suggested encouraging pace – both by Alex achieving his best qualifying position of third place for the first race, and in Jason’s race two victory.Jason now leads the Drivers’ Championship with 64 points, 17 ahead of on-track rival, Matt Neal.And in the Manufacturers’ standings, Silverline Chevrolet has accrued 118 points, placing them 18 ahead of Honda.The team has every reason to feel encouraged by the Rockingham results, and in particular with the improvement of car performance as the weekend progressed.And as Jason hints, there’s plenty more to come yet from the Silverline Chevrolet team.  He commented, “There’s still plenty of scope for us to get even more out of the car.  We proved today that our car is capable of winning races, and the changes we made between the first and second races saw us improve the car considerably, but I think we’ll be even faster as the season progresses.”The team now have just a few days to reprep the cars ahead of Rounds 7, 8 &amp 9 taking place on Bank holiday weekend, 1st-2nd May 2010 on the Brands Hatch GP circuit – one of Jason’s favourite tracks on which in the 2009 series’ finale, he took three out of three race victories – becoming only the second man in BTCC to achieve this.Drivers’ Championship Standings:1st Jason Plato 64 points2nd Matt Neal 47 points3rd Steven Kane 45 points4th Paul O’Neill 43 pointsManufacturers’ Standings:1st Chevrolet / RML 118 points2nd Honda /Dynamics 100 points3rd Arena / Ford 78 pointshttp://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=4Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTWell here we are at sunny Santa Pod (I wish).  First race of the year and after a long and particularly cold winter, here we are ready to run and try out all our modifications and improvements made over the winter, but the winter appears to still be here!  Our first run of the year on Saturday with a track temperature of 48 degrees netted a 5.77 @ 249 mph to make us No.1 qualifier.  Quite a surprise for us, in these temperatures we knew it would either go down the track or more likely “blow the tyres off”.  Well on a soft tune up we got away with it and were able to check out the new rear wing and get some useful data.  However we did find a worrying problem with our oiling system on the engine which made the bearings look a lot less happy then usual.As we were No.1 qualifier at this point we elected to miss the second qualifying session to continue checking out the motor.Sunday was even colder and as we weren’t happy with the engine we continued to try to resolve the oiling problem with some success, and by afternoon we were ready to try to improve our qualifying position as we were now down to No.4 having missed two sessions.Well we didn’t move more than three feet before the tyres went into smoke and that was that run over, we would be No.4 qualifier in the eliminations next day.One of the problems of the A-fuel combination compared to that of the blown methanol car is the limited amount of input the driver can have in these sort of conditions, where with the blown car you can use less RPM on the startline, use less throttle at launch and short shift and react to what the car is doing on the run.  With the A-fuel combination the idle is pretty much fixed, you can take power out with retarded timing and use less clutch weight but then you have to hit full throttle at launch to start the timer systems running and if you can’t take enough power away it smokes the tyres so quickly and takes so long to recover that the race is all over before you can do anything!!On the Monday, first round of eliminations, we were mindful of the conditions and tried adjust the tune up to compensate, but despite this the result was the same as the day before, moved three feet then “up in smoke”, race over we were knocked out of competition.Not quite the result we wanted as we treated this race as a test and tune for the FIA Championship, we did not get much testing and tuning done so we will now look forward to the first round of the FIA European Championship at Santa Pod Raceway and have to continue working on the tune up then.SEE YOU THEREhttp://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=8Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTSilverline Chevrolet secured its first podium of the season in the first round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Thruxton, courtesy of Jason Plato.Starting from 5th on the grid in race one, Jason made an early pass on Jordan in the Vauxhall, taking 4th and defending fiercely to keep Onslow-Cole’s Aon Ford at bay as the pair raced door-to-door through the chicane.   As lap times tumbled over the following laps, Jason reduced Giovanardi’s eight second gap to just three seconds, however with this notoriously challenging circuit throwing cars off at nearly every corner, tyre management proved key to finishing the race and securing vital points.  Jason took the flag in 2nd place, with 12 championship points and guaranteed his place on the first row of the grid for race 2.In his BTCC debut with the Chevrolet Cruze, Alex had a solid, ‘educational’ race as he lined up 15th on the grid.  A clean start off the line and good pace ensured he kept with the pack ahead, in close pursuit of Pinkney.  A spin on track did nothing to knock Alex’s focus as he rejoined and made a couple of important places to get to P7.  With tyres a constant concern for all, Alex kept enough momentum to secure his points-finishing position and end his first race in a very impressive 7th place.In dry, slightly warmer conditions, race two of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship got underway, with Jason starting on the front row of the grid in P2 and Alex in P7.From the lights, Jason made a clean start, holding position and resisting pressure from the ever-present O’Neill behind.  Despite O’Neill’s best efforts, Jason adapted his defensive driving style, ensuring better exit from the corners, enabling him to pull away and keep a margin to maintain position.  Some intense laps unfolded, as the team watched two of the championship’s greatest on-track rivals fighting for position, but a lap later, Jason ran wide, allowing Neal to position himself side-by-side with the Cruze.  Trying to outbrake each other into the chicane, the duelling pair made contact as Jason ran wide under braking, unable to make the corner.  Both spun simultaneously, but rejoined the pack – Neal heading for P2 and Jason further down in P4.Alex also enjoyed his on-track action, having won the battle for position from Clio Cup rival, Phil Glew off the start.  Running in 5th place by the eighth lap, Alex was posting consistently quick lap times and closing in on the back of the leading pack, until a charging Neal caught and passed him.  Jordan was next to make a move and again some good, close but clean racing between the pair ensued.  Staying with the pack, Alex finished his second race in a very respectable 6th place – another points scoring finish for the championship’s youngest competitor.The final race of the day proved intense for the Silverline Chevrolet team, with Jason fighting for position from start to finish.  Despite the constant threat in the early laps from Giovanardi, later followed by Shedden, Jason found himself on familiar territory as he took to the podium for the second time.In the sister Cruze, Alex endured a tough race having made a slow getaway from the start.  With a train of traffic passing, Alex was unable to gain momentum and slipped down to 14th position.  But holding his focus, the 19-year old maintained consistent pace and avoided trouble to finish the race in 9th.Commenting on day’s results, Jason told ITV: “It’s been a great day for us.  The target was 30 points, I think we got 31.  The racing was fantastic and it’s great that we’ve had different winners today.  We knew the Vauxhall would be strong here, but for Silverline Chevrolet, the championship begins at Rockingham, which is where we’ll be on maximum attack.”Alex commented, “I made a good start and managed to get a good run at Pinkney through Goodwood but then I spun, so the focus moved from looking after the tyres to making up a place.  There was some carnage in front with cars running off track because of tyre problems, so I gained and passed Pinkney.  It was a good result for my debut race.  For me the objective was first to finish, and learn all I could in this first race.  Already I’ve learnt a lot more on tyre management – it’s very different to Clio racing.”The Silverline Chevrolet team leaves Thruxton with six out of six points scoring finishes – Jason is now 2nd in the overall championship with 31 points (7 points behind leader, Giovanardi) and Alex 7th on 11 points.  Chevrolet lead the Manufacturer/Constructor Championship with 74 points, 29 points clear of nearest rivals, Honda.The next round of the BTCC will be held at Rockingham on Sunday April 25thhttp://www.racingsilverline.com/chevrolet/news/article/?i=1Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTDue to an influx of new cars and tuners from the USA the game has definitely been raised to a level unthinkable a year ago.FIA European ET record     was        5.422         holder     Dave Wilson RacingFIA European ET record     is now    5.301         holder     Dave Wilson RacingFIA European Top Speed   was        264 mph    holder     Dave Wilson RacingFIA European Top Speed   is now    269 mph    holder     Dave Wilson RacingAnd the Silverline/Playstation dragster has exceeded that speed record with speeds of 277 and 279 mph, over 10mph faster!!!After standing for four years the “old” record has been exceeded no less than 29 times this year by five different cars.Whilst we still hold all the records, never in the history of European drag racing have so many cars achieved so great a performance increase over such a short period which has made Top Methanol Dragster the standout class for performance and competition throughout Europe this year, with the Silverline/Playstation supported dragster the standout car in this most competitive of classes!!Our year started in April at the Easter Santa Pod Thunderball race, carrying on from last year our performance was promising but failed to deliver the results we need, mainly due to being unable to get this nitro powered car to hook up to the track, we leave this race determined that after 12 months of promising performance we have to now start producing better results, even if that means drastic changes to the car and its original tune up.Main Event – FIA Round 1What a great weekend!!On the third qualifying run, after changes we made since Easter the much promised performance arrives!!  The car leaves the line well and keeps on pulling like a freight train almost to the finish line and we record a 5.379 et,the First 5.30 et outside of the USA. This makes us No.1 qualifier!  On the last qualifier we beat that and run 5.351, but this time at the expense of three pistons and a cylinder head, but never mind The car is working !!!Race day and in the first round we exceed that time again! 5.304 so close to the 5.20’s and again it costs us three pistons and a cylinder head.  In the semi finals we slow a little to 5.388 and lose.  But what an astonishing weekend! Having held it for four years the old ET record gets exceeded by us and others no less than nine times and after all that the Silverline/Playstation team still holds it. Finland – FIA Round 2After the performance from the last race we now have to work on reliability and consistency and as the track is very marginal we suffer once again with a lack of grip and some more engine damage partly as a direct result.  However a semi final finish once again keeps us in the points. Sweden – FIA Round 3During repairs to the engine following Finland we find some inherent faults on parts of the engine and we hope that our redesign and modification of these parts will increase our reliability this weekend, and in the first qualifier it does, No.1 qualifier with 5.345.In the last qualifier we better that with a 5.312.  And run faster than anyone in Europe at 269 mph to remain No 1 qualifier.First round we win with a drop off in performance, so in the semi finals we return to our qualifying set up and win with another incredible run 5.301 atAn astounding 277 mph!!  Still no damage, this is just getting better and better.  Now is our chance to make some points back on the Championship leader but the old enemy “rain” stops play and we have to settle for “just” a new European ET record of 5.301 and a European speed record of 269 mph.Germany – FIA Round 4Hockenheim brought us another semi final finish which in the circumstances was a good result.The weather was very hot all weekend and everybody with high horse power levels suffered badly with a loss of traction mid track.  All our good times were set early in the morning including our low ET for the class 5.41 which gave us an extra 5 points towards the Championship keeping us in No.2 position and giving us an outside chance of a title again.Santa Pod – FIA Final RoundIn the second qualifying session we return to our previous good performance with a 5.35 ET for No.2 qualifying position and 279.94 mph speed, if only we could back that up within 1% we will have increased our own record by 10 mph but when we increase power for the third qualifier it is too much and we smoke the tyres and end up qualifying in No.2 position with a run of 5.37 at 263 mph.First round win for us with a very consistent 5.38.Semi finals and a very close race, although I left the start line first the performance was not there this time and we lost by a very narrow margin.Final Results 2009  FIA European Drag Racing Championship -Second PlaceFIA ET record 5.301 secondsFIA Speed Record 269 mphDrastically reducing engine damage throughout the yearDrastically increased consistency throughout the yearThe opportunity now exists to refine the car and setup whilst retaining consistency for an even better Championship finish in 2010 !!!http://www.racingsilverline.com/dragster/news/article/?i=6Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTRacing Silverline took to the waters of Gothenburg, Sweden in the 4th leg of the 2009 P1 World Championships, held between 7th and 9th August. As a new addition to the P1 calendar, Gothenburg was an unfamiliar course to Racing Silverline Pilot and Navigator team, Drew Langdon and Jan Falkowski. The team did some pre race practicing in Torbay, Devon before heading out to Sweden. Unfortunately, during testing the propellers were overworked which meant the boat could not reach its maximum speed on the waters of Gothenburg. To add to the difficult circumstances, the starboard engine blew up during Fridays testing. The team worked frantically through the night fitting the spare engine but there was no time to test it before racing began. As a secondary sting, Racing Silverline are now unable to collect 50 bonus points for running the same engine throughout the second half of the P1 season. The team have already collected 50 bonus points for running the same engine throughout the first half of the season. In comparison to the other P1 courses, Gothenburg is very short, totalling only 4 miles. Full of twists, turns and a tricky chicane, the course is a real challenge and makes it difficult for the powerboats to build up speed. Despite overworked propellers, an unknown and difficult track and running on the spare engine, Racing Silverline performed well throughout the weekends racing. The team reached speeds of 103mph, however there is no doubt the Powerboat was not as quick as it could have been. In the sprint class, Racing Silverline completed 11 laps in a time of 00:33:39:09, securing a 4th pace finish and 73 points.  In the evolution class, the team achieved a time of 00:50:07:64 over 15 laps giving them another 4th place finish and a further 73 points. Overall, the 146 points gained by the team put them in 3rd place in the Scandinavian Grand Prix of the sea. Racing Silverline are still leading the Powerboat P1 Evolution class with a total of 646 points. There is now only 1 race to go in the 2009 Powerboat P1 Championships, the final races will take place in Sicily between 11th and 13th September.http://www.racingsilverline.com/powerboat/news/article/?i=7Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT