Plato given 15-second race three penalty

Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall driver Jason Plato has been handed a post-race 15-second time penalty following a fiery reverse grid British Touring Car Championship race at Snetterton.

Plato finished fifth on the road during race three at Snetterton but drops down to 17th in the race classification after receiving a cumulative 15-second penalty for incidents involving Chris Smiley and Ashley Sutton.

Plato led the vast majority of the final race on the hard compound tyre and heavily defended his position ahead of Sutton’s soft tyre shod Subaru Levorg.

Their duel for the race lead came to a dramatic conclusion on lap ten when the battling duo, along with eventual race winner Rory Butcher, went three abreast into Brundle corner.

While Butcher took advantage and scythed past the pair on the inside line, Sutton found himself on the outside of Plato heading into the left hander and subsequently spun out of contention.

Plato went on to finish in fifth but was given a 10-second penalty for contact with Sutton earlier in the race.

The double champion was also given a further 5-second penalty for making contact with BTC Racing’s Smiley on the opening lap of the race.