JASON PLATO, LEARNER DRIVER
BTCC ace samples a disabled racer’s life without the use of his feet
Damien Smith
RACING LINES
Team Brit’s 570S GT4 is standard but for hand controls
Old dogs and new tricks? At 54 and having lived on a racer’s natural instincts since his childhood karting days, Jason Plato was adamant that he wouldn’t be able to adapt to a whole new technique of twirling a car around a track. Then again, who can blame his scepticism? After all, he was being asked to cross his legs.
The advice was actually sound, in the left-field context that the newly retired British Touring Car Championship legend discovered on the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold, Surrey. Plato was challenged to lap a McLaren 570S GT4 without using his feet. Crossing his legs, as awkward and unnatural as that is when sitting behind a steering wheel, was the best way to smother everything his subconscious would be telling him to tap the pedals. Instead, he would rely on hand controls in an experiment to find out what it feels like to race a powerful GT with a physical disability that means what most of us do without a second thought just isn’t an option. It’s safe to say that it was an eye-opener.