Nearly a month to the day RML secured two class title wins in the Le Mans Series with Drivers’ and Teams’ championship honours, the Wellingborough-based outfit clinched its third impressive championship win last weekend in the form of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with Jason Plato.
Proving to be the strongest package on the grid, RML, Jason and the Silverline Chevrolet Cruze blitzed the Brands Hatch title-deciding season finale from start to finish, with a dazzling display worthy of pole position and two race victories – all in spite of the ever-present additional weight of success ballast.
In claiming the 2010 title, Jason’s second in his touring car career, he has equalled Andy Rouse’s record of 60 BTCC wins. The newly crowned champion has scored 21of those with RML across three of his twelve years in the series and, coincidentally, he’s taken 7 victories in each of his three campaigns with the touring car specialists – 2004 (SEAT Toledo), 2009 (RML Chevrolet Lacetti) and 2010 (Silverline Chevrolet Cruze).
2010 also marks RML’s 15th year in touring car racing and since 1992 in the BTCC 2-litre era, have represented and won titles with three different manufacturers: Vauxhall, Nissan and Chevrolet.
Of RML’s eighth BTCC title win, Chief Executive, Ray Mallock said: “This is a tremendous team achievement. We entered the series with the package to beat on the grid in Jason, Alex and the Cruze and our aim from the start was to take the championship win in partnership with Chevrolet. It gives me, and all involved, great pleasure to know that we have accomplished our target and to do so at the final race meeting of the year with two dominant race victories is the perfect way to end the season.”
Since entering the touring car arena back in the early-nineties, RML has amassed a tally of 86 wins and remain on target to further add to their championship winning year in the FIA WTCC, where Chevrolet driver, Yvan Muller, currently tops the standings with a 25-point margin over nearest rival, Andy Priaulx. Chevrolet leads the Manufacturers’ standings with 569 points, 45 point clear of SEAT Customers Technology. The hotly contested series will determine its championship victor in Macau on the 21st November.
Whilst the LMS and BTCC trophies proudly adorn the cabinet at RML, there is hope (and space) for more prestigious awards, as Ray adds, “There are still two more championships to fight for yet, the FIA WTCC Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles. We head to Okyama in very similar circumstances as we did Brands with Jason – Yvan has a 25 point gap and, whilst we’re in a strong position from the front, much can happen during the race. Our approach to the final rounds will be just the same – to target the race wins and maximise on our points-scoring finishes, hopefully continuing our remarkable run of success across our projects in 2010.”
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