Born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, Plato was educated at Chillingham Road Primary School. His early success in motorsport included a British Championship win in the Junior TKM Class in 1989. Following his karting achievements, Plato raced in Formula Three and Formula Renault. In 1996, he secured a dominant title win in the Renault Spider championship.
In 1997, Plato joined the Williams-Renault BTCC team. After being overlooked by Williams, Plato convinced Sir Frank Williams to give him a drive. Plato took pole position for his first three races in the Renault Laguna, winning two races as a rookie and finishing third in the championship. He maintained a fifth-place finish in the series for the following two years.
Plato moved to Vauxhall in 2000, again finishing fifth in the championship. The 2001 season saw new reduced-cost regulations, fewer prominent drivers, and a dominant car from Vauxhall. Plato secured the championship in a hard-fought season, with his teammate Yvan Muller's car catching fire in the final round.
With an ambition to compete in NASCAR, Plato transitioned to the British ASCAR stock car scene in 2002, finishing third in the championship for XCEL Motorsport in a Ford Taurus. In 2003, Plato served as a driver coach for SEAT, and returned to the BTCC with the Spanish team in 2004.
Plato was employed by SEAT in 2003 to assist with their driver development. Upon SEAT's entry into the BTCC in 2004, he was the natural choice to lead the team. Despite the SEAT Toledo requiring development, the car proved to be a race winner from its debut, with Plato winning seven races and finishing third overall in the championship. The 2004 regulations, which allowed the tenth-place finisher in the first race to start on pole for the second race, and the winner of the second race to start on pole for the third, were changed due to this tactic. The pace of Matt Neal's Team Dynamics Honda and Yvan Muller's Vauxhall prevented Plato from challenging for a second title in 2005, where he finished fourth in the championship with three wins.
Plato continued as lead driver for SEAT in 2006, driving their new León touring car. He was the only driver in the three-car team to compete in all 10 meetings. After the first three meetings, he was third in the championship, but suffered two retirements at Thruxton. He won race 1 at Croft, and in race 2, his 200th start, he was passed by Matt Neal with two laps remaining. Wins in two of the three races at Brands Hatch kept his championship hopes alive, but a poor qualifying at Silverstone) ended them. He finished second in the championship, beating Colin Turkington.
The 2007 season saw Plato in a title battle with Fabrizio Giovanardi's Vauxhall. Giovanardi took the series lead at Knockhill, but Plato regained it at Donington Park after fighting from ninth to fifth in race 1 and winning race 2. In race 3, he started ninth due to the grid reversal but fought through to take the lead from Mike Jordan. There was uncertainty over whether he had passed under a yellow flag, and to avoid a penalty, he allowed Jordan to repass him before retaking the lead a lap later. The championship went to the final round, with Giovanardi winning by three points. Plato stated, "Fabrizio beat us the right way. He is a very worthy champion and there were no shenanigans between me and him."
In 2008, the team switched to a diesel-powered León. The first win for a diesel car in the BTCC came at Donington Park. Two wins at Snetterton helped Plato close the gap to Giovanardi, but mechanical failures at Oulton Park, after winning race 1, typified a season where performance was not matched by reliability. Plato entered the final rounds at Brands Hatch with a mathematical chance of the title, but acknowledged the large points difference made it unrealistic. Both he and Giovanardi had poor final rounds, allowing Mat Jackson to secure second overall.
SEAT's withdrawal from the BTCC at the end of 2008 affected Plato's plans for 2009. After considering a sabbatical, he returned to the BTCC in a privately entered RML Group Chevrolet Lacetti, securing sponsorship from Silverline power tools and Auto Windscreens. At the final round at Brands Hatch, Plato became only the second driver to win all three races in a day, with the first win achieved by a then-closest-ever BTCC margin of 0.015 seconds. He finished second in the 2009 championship, five points behind Colin Turkington.
In 2010, RML became an official Chevrolet manufacturer team, racing the Cruze model. Plato was a championship challenger, with a double victory at Snetterton returning him to the championship lead. He dominated the latter half of the season and secured the 2010 MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Championship by winning round 29 at Brands Hatch. This win was his 60th, equalling Andy Rouse's BTCC record.
Plato remained with the same team in 2011, winning the first round of the season at Brands Hatch to set a new BTCC record of 61 victories. He finished third in the Championship.
Plato raced for Triple Eight Race Engineering (United Kingdom) in their MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 in 2012 and 2013, finishing third in the Championship in both years. In 2014, under the same team with a similarly sponsored car, he finished second in the championship.
In 2015, Plato drove for Team BMR alongside Colin Turkington, Aron Smith, and Warren Scott. He achieved six wins during the year but narrowly missed out on the title by four points.
Team BMR ran four Subaru Levorgs in 2016. After a slow start, Plato secured a win at Knockhill in his 500th race and achieved nine podiums. He continued with the team in 2017, but a crash at the first round at Brands Hatch significantly impacted his season, causing persistent grip and understeer issues. Despite this, he secured four podium finishes, including a win at Knockhill, and finished 12th in the standings.
For 2018, Plato remained with BMR Subaru. The team switched from a Mountune engine to a Swindon engine to address reliability issues. However, this change negatively impacted the car's performance. Plato failed to score points in the first four race meetings and his only podium finish was a second place at Croft, as part of a Subaru 1-2. He scored only nine more points throughout the season, finishing 27th overall with 26 points.
Plato moved to Power Maxed Racing in 2019, driving the factory-backed Vauxhall Astra. He finished the championship in seventh place with 237 points, including a win in the final race of the season.
The team did not compete full-time in 2020 but retained Plato for 2021. The Vauxhall was hampered by throttle linkage issues in 2021. Plato achieved one podium at the opening round at Thruxton and finished the year in 14th place with 156 points.
Plato joined BTC Racing for his 23rd and final season in the BTCC in 2022. He finished the year in 17th place, with a single podium at Snetterton.
Plato was injured in October 2007 during filming for Fifth Gear at Bruntingthorpe proving ground. While driving a Caparo T1 supercar, the car caught fire at an estimated 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph). Plato described his injuries as: “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." He was treated at three hospitals, including Stoke Mandeville Hospital's specialist burns unit, and was able to compete in the final BTCC race of the 2007 season the following weekend. This incident was also referenced on Top Gear.
Plato competed in the Bathurst 1000 twice and the Sandown 500 once. His second attempt at Bathurst was with the Holden Racing Team, driving with Peter Brock. Their race ended when Plato was involved in a crash that resulted in John Cleland's car rolling onto its roof.
In 1998, Plato participated in the Silverstone) Rally Sprint, part of the British Rally Championship, driving a third works Renault Megane F2. He finished ninth, with co-driver Andy Wilman.
During his 2005 BTCC campaign, Plato competed in four rounds of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for SEAT Sport, achieving a second-place finish in race 2 of the FIA WTCC Race of UK at Silverstone). He also won a race and finished second overall in the 2005 European Touring Car Cup.
Plato frequently competes in historic racing, is a regular at the Goodwood Revival and Members Meeting, and has teamed up with celebrity chef James Martin and Craig Davies for events.
Plato is a co-presenter for the Channel 5 series Fifth Gear, alongside Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson, and Jonny Smith. He previously co-presented Channel 4's motoring program Driven with Mike Brewer, Penny Mallory, and James May. He also presented the Sky One television program Mission Implausible.
On 19 September 2019, Plato released his first autobiography, How Not to Be a Professional Racing Driver, published by Penguin Books Ltd.
Plato is a brand ambassador for Tesco Momentum 99 Fuel, Jigsaw24, and AMX Home Automation Systems. He runs a marketing agency, Brand Pilot Ltd. The podcast he co-hosts with Dave Vitty, Fuelling Around, returned for a second series on 30 March 2021. The pair's motoring show held its first live event on 23 September 2021. On 8 January 2026, Jason Plato announced his new BTCC team, Plato Racing, would use the Mercedes-AMG A35 for the 2026 season.
Timothy Jason Plato holds the record for the most overall race wins in the BTCC with 97 (94 overall) and has achieved 13 top-three finishes in the Championship. He was crowned BTCC Champion in 2001 and 2010.
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position. Races in italics indicate fastest lap. * signifies that driver led race for at least one lap.
| Year | Team | Chassis | Pos. | |---|---|---|---| | 1997 | Williams Renault | Renault Laguna | 3rd | | 1998 | Williams Renault | Renault Laguna | 5th | | 1999 | Williams Renault | Renault Laguna | 5th | | 2000 | Vauxhall | Vectra | 5th | | 2001 | Vauxhall | Astra | 1st | | 2002 | XCEL Motorsport | Ford Taurus | 3rd | | 2004 | SEAT | Toledo | 3rd | | 2005 | SEAT | Toledo | 4th | | 2006 | SEAT | León | 2nd | | 2007 | SEAT | León | 2nd | | 2008 | SEAT | León | 3rd | | 2009 | Racing Silverline | Chevrolet Lacetti | 2nd | | 2010 | Silverline Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze | 1st | | 2011 | RML Chevrolet | Chevrolet Cruze | 3rd | | 2012 | MG KX Momentum Racing | MG6 | 3rd | | 2013 | MG KX Momentum Racing | MG6 | 3rd | | 2014 | MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 2nd | | 2015 | Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 2nd | | 2016 | Team BMR | Subaru Levorg | 4th | | 2017 | Team BMR | Subaru Levorg | 12th | | 2018 | Team BMR | Subaru Levorg | 27th | | 2019 | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 7th | | 2020 | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | - | | 2021 | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 14th | | 2022 | BTC Racing | Honda Civic | 17th |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Class | Wins | Poles | FL | Pos. | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2005 | SEAT Sport | SEAT Toledo Cupra | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Wins | Poles | FL | Pos. | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2006 | Paul Morris Motorsport | Holden Commodore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26th |
| Year | Co-driver | Car | Laps | Position | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1997 | Steven Richards | Holden Vectra | 140 | 14th | | 1998 | Peter Brock | Holden Commodore | 108 | DNF | | 1999 | Steven Richards | Holden Vectra | 157 | 12th |
Super Touring race
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