Fifth Gear try to outdo Top Gear again

[Matra et Alpine]

Clarksons comments on TG the other night about 5thGear crashes not being as good as Top Gear's must have struck a chord !!!!!

......
from http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/car_news_article.aspx?cp-documentid=6379623
Fifth Gear star hurt in supercar fire



By Ian Dickson
October 12 2007
SEAT touring car driver and Fifth Gear presenter Jason Plato has been injured while driving a Caparo T1 supercar for the Channel Five show.
Plato was testing the 200mph Caparo at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire when it burst into flames at an estimated 150mph.





He managed to bring the car to a stop but received burns to both hands, his face and the back of his neck, and was rushed to the near-by accident and emergency facility at the Market Harborough and District Hospital. After initial treatment he was transferred by ambulance to Kettering General Hospital before being transferred by ambulance to the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he received treatment in the specialist burns unit. He was released later the same evening and spent the night resting at his home in Oxfordshire. But despite the injuries, Plato has vowed to race his SEAT Leon at this weekend's final BTCC race at Thruxton in Hampshire. He goes into the final three racers of the season nine points clear.
Jason said: "We were testing the Caparo T1 for Fifth Gear, and we took it to Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, a private testing facility, which is common practice. There was a slight loss of power, I looked in the mirror and saw some smoke, there was a slight smell of oil and then suddenly there was this intense heat. The car spontaneously erupted into a ball of flame and I was sat in the middle of a fireball. I hit the brakes, brought the car to a stop as quickly as I could and jumped out.
"We found the nearest hospital on our sat nav and Phil Bennett [former BTCC racing driver who was at the test] took me to the local A&E. I would very much like to thank Phil, all the staff at Market Harborough and District Hospital, Kettering General Hospital and Stoke Mandeville Hospital for all the excellent care and treatment they so quickly administered.
"The back of my neck is burnt and so are my face and hands. I obviously couldn't take my hands off the steering wheel whilst braking and my right hand is more badly burnt than my left. I'll have to dig deep, but I'm still looking forward to the BTCC finale this weekend. It's been a hard-fought season and I've led the Drivers' Championship almost unbroken since winning the opening round, so this isn't going to stop me winning the title on Sunday."

[adamfraser]

Crazy stuff.

[NSXType-R]

Wow, he sure is steadfast in his racing career.

It sure is strange that Top Gear talked about how their crashes are "better".

Hope he recovers quickly and gets to race ASAP.

What's more scary is what caused the fire in the first place?

Could it be an engineering flaw?

[Coventrysucks]

Wow, he sure is steadfast in his racing career.

The options are:

Race and probably win the championship

Don't race and gift the championship to arch-rival Giovanardi

What is the likely choice?

It would be like Lewis Hamilton turning up at Brazil, stubbing his toe and deciding not to bother racing.

It might hurt a bit, but not badly enough to throw away a championship.

[charged]

Once he gets in the car, he wont feel any pain, Look at the MotoGP guys with the injuries they put up with and still ride.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Geez, Caparo's not having much lack with the T1. When EVO drove it a press launch it kept shitting itself and now this.

[kigango123]

Geez, Caparo's not having much lack with the T1. When EVO drove it a press launch it kept shitting itself and now this.

they should have stuck with turbos, superchargers are just riddled with trouble
plus with such a high revving engine there are alot of things to go wrong.


afterthought
I never knew they updated it.

[Coventrysucks]

they should have stuck with turbos, superchargers are just riddled with trouble
plus with such a high revving engine there are alot of things to go wrong.

You do spout an awful lot of rubbish.

[kingofthering]

Wow... they also managed to capture the reliability of an F1 car because it's as reliable as the Mercedes-Mclaren from a few years back.

[kigango123]

You do spout an awful lot of rubbish.

aww shush!

[Cotterik]

haha i loved it when jeremy mentioned fifth gear. Really openly too Gave it his traditional 'clarkson rant'.

[NSXType-R]

haha i loved it when jeremy mentioned fifth gear. Really openly too Gave it his traditional 'clarkson rant'.

Yes, I missed Top Gear.

[kigango123]

Yes, I missed Top Gear.

did you watch today's top gear, apparently Mr "Baked potato" from Fifth gear got what was due to him.

[Matra et Alpine]

did you watch today's top gear, apparently Mr "Baked potato" from Fifth gear got what was due to him.

harsh
Plato drove a hard two races to try to win the championship. He clearly was in some discomfort and his hands/wrists were heavily bandaged.
The last race however, he really was out of order a few times in pushing.
But frankly I'd have done the same to Matt Neal. Waving next years team mates through and holding up a championship contender was VERY evil !

If he was to get "what was due" then we'd have seen a final race with him on Givornadi's bootlid the whole way

[Coventrysucks]

But frankly I'd have done the same to Matt Neal. Waving next years team mates through and holding up a championship contender was VERY evil !

Evil?

It should be banned. He potentially robbed Plato of a championship, he certainly robbed the fans of a fight between the two best drivers in the field, and he robbed his team of a podium finish.

Imagine what would happen if Lewis Hamilton's '08 team mate waved Lewis through before blocking Alonso in Brazil... They would probably be spread-eagled judging by how the FIA is behaving at the moment.

People keep saying that Plato is a bad driver for pushing people around, and he deserves it back, but if Neal's only response is to push back, he is no better.

Plato's burns did look quite bad, he's probably going to have some nice scars - a good job he had a full-face helmet.

But I'm sure he really...

got what was due to him.