JASON Plato missed out on the British Touring Car Championship crown by an agonising four points, despite winning the season climax at Brands Hatch.

The entire campaign came down to a nail-biting final race at the Kent circuit.

Plato did all he could by finishing first, but rival Gordon Shedden battled through the field from 19th place on the grid to come fourth.

It was just enough to deny the Oxford driver, who remained philosophical at ending up with the runners-up spot by such a narrow margin.

He said: “It was close but no cigar.

“It’s been a great year for us, but we’ve been dogged with some bad luck to be honest.

“Had it not been for that we’d have won it, but that’s the way it goes.

“I understand defeat as well as victory, and the balls just didn’t roll our way.

“I’m pleased with our performance this weekend, and I’m pleased with my engineers – we’ve managed to make it a potentially championship-winning car.

“I’m signed for another two years with Team BMR and we have quite a few things in the pipeline – you’ll have to wait and see but there’s some exciting stuff.”

Plato went into the weekend trailing Shedden by 23 points.

The Team BMR RCIB Insurance VW driver needed to make inroads from the start and chipped away at the deficit by finishing fifth in the first race, one place ahead of Shedden.

The championship leader’s advantage was drastically cut in race two, as he trailed in 19th.

Plato’s sixth-place finish saw him close the gap to 12 points, setting up an enthralling finish for the 42,000-strong crowd.

The chances of change at the top were further boosted by the fact Plato started the final race in second, while Shedden was 19th.

A mistake on the opening lap from pole sitter Matt Neal allowed the challenger to snatch the lead, piling pressure on the championship front-runner.

Several safety car periods helped Shedden and although he was held up by Plato’s teammate Alain Menu, a puncture for the Frenchman ended his resistance.

He went on to scythe through the field in style, meaning the 94th BTCC win of Plato’s career did not deliver a third title.

FINAL STANDINGS

1 G Shedden 348pts, 2 J Plato 344, 3 M Neal 317, 4 C Turkington 310, 5 A Jordan 274.

  • BRANDS Hatch was a happy hunting ground for another Oxford driver, with Matt Chapman taking his first career podium.

The 15-year-old, who came ninth in the first race, took third in the final race of the Ginetta Junior Championship season, lifting him to tenth in the standings.

He said: “We knew we could go somewhere from ninth on the grid in race two, but we didn’t know we’d get to the podium.

“It feels so good to get my first podium and we can feel confident now for whatever we do next year.”