JASON Plato ended his wait for a first podium finish this season – but it could not have been closer in the final race of the weekend at Croft.

It has been a frustrating Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship campaign for the Oxford driver, but he was competitive throughout the fifth round.

After finishing tenth and sixth in the first two races, Plato battled at the sharp end in the final race.

Despite feeling Adrian Flux Subaru Racing teammate Ash Sutton’s overtaking manoeuvre on the way to second place should have been penalised, Plato edged out Rob Austin by 0.041secs to claim third place.

He said: “It’s good to be here.

“We’ve had three consistent runs with the car and that’s something.

“If overtaking whilst you’re off the track is fine, then yes Ash’s move was okay.

“It wasn’t a legitimate overtake I didn’t think, the cheeky monkey!”

MECHANICAL issues hampered Oxford's Matt Chapman in the British GT Championship at Silverstone.

Just 15 minutes into the three-hour race, with teammate Sam Webster at the wheel of the Ginetta G55, the driveshaft exploded.

After a lengthy repair the car limped back into the race, but a brake failure near the finish forced Chapman to retire.

He said: “It’s not the result we wanted, but it was out of everyone’s control.”

The next round is at SpaFrancorchamps in Belgium on July 6-8.