Q&A: BTCC champion Jason Plato.

Crash caught up with Jason Plato just minutes after second place in the final BTCC race of the year confirmed him as 2001 champion. He had gone into the race with a slender points lead over team-mate Yvan Muller, but the Frenchman's Triple Eight Race Engineering run Vauxhall Astra retired - guaranteeing Plato the title.

Jason, 2001 British Touring Car Champion - how does that sound?

Jason Plato: "It sounds pretty good! It still hasn't sunk in yet. Its not an anti-climax by any means, but it's a strange feeling - almost relief. The pressure has been pretty intense these last couple of months, and not just for me but for everyone I work with and all the team. Triple Eight have had two very tense drivers, which means each part of the team has been very tense - even the people I work with a Channel 4 will be chuffed, it means I'll be less twitchy and on edge!

"I can relax and enjoy it now - I'm going to have some fun tonight!"

It's been a long hard season, and this last meeting seemed to have a bit of everything - particularly in the last race. There must have been a moment as you were spinning through Surtees when you thought 'oh dear'....?

JP: "I actually thought 'ah - I've made a mistake on set-up'! I changed my car from the first race to try to dial in a little bit more front grip, but, unfortunately, with the amount of standing water it was a bit too much, and it was pretty undriveable for the first half of the race. I just thought 'ok, I've gone off, I'm back on, I've got up to sixth or wherever, the rain might ease, the puddles might go' - and at the end my car was the quickest out there.

"You need a little bit of luck in this business, and we've had luck go against us this year, like at Donington where I lost the race with a bad pit stop, and today Yvan [Muller] lost the race with an engine fire."

How did you feel in the race when you drove up to Druids and saw Yvan's car at the side of the road?

"If I'm dead honest...I had a big smile!

"Competition in motorsport is a team game - you have 40-odd people from Triple Eight behind you - but also it's an individual sport, and I'm sure Yvan would have smiled if it had been me on fire. That's how it is - and I've got the trophy and I'm really chuffed!"

2001 BTCC champion - where do you go from here?

"It would be nice to come back and defend it. My contract with Vauxhall runs out today, I'm speaking with Vauxhall and other manufacturers - but my long-term goal is to race in NASCAR in America. That's not going to happen for a couple of years I would have thought, so now my target is to secure a competitive drive and defend my crown."