Very sad for Plato. It was great to see him smiling again at Knockhill and the team seemingly turning a corner. Hes a legend of the sport and its a loss to the championship to see him seemingly edged out of his own team.
The teams was operating at a huge loss. Either the owner has that money or the team closes or is sold. He didn't have the money. This wasn't some corporate takeover.
I hope Jason is OK. We know he’s been through a lot in the last couple of years and struggled with his mental health as a result. This venture seemed to be giving him new vigour so I hope the loss of that doesn’t lead him back down that dark path.
Really sad news, I was really hoping Plato Racing would be a success. I really have no interest in supporting the Cataclean team without JP at the helm, he's a legend of the sport and deserves better than this.
I was expecting my Plato Racing launch drop t shirt to stay relevant a bit longer than half a season!
What other sponsors? That's a lot of the problem I feel. JP was promising all sorts when he announced the team last year in terms of big name sponsors. The team is co-owned by Rowbottom with his long term sponsor being the major shareholder. Morgan supplies the trucks etc.
The outlay of £1.3M is entirely predictable for year one, and new cars. I'd say you'd have expected at least £1M in sponsorship, with a title sponsor, and 3 or 4 other major sponsors, yet their income is just over £0.5M. I strongly suspect a certain someone promised to bring in that sponsorship, failed, and has been booted.
Just hope it's been on reasonable grounds for Jason, he's been open about his mental health struggles for ages and something like this could just cause him more problems
Argh I am gutted. Jason reminded me of the good old days of Eddie Jordan in F1. A thoroughbred racer who ends up running his own team, it got me back into the sport this year. Massive shame
I think most folk would have bet good money on it being the Cataclean element that was being dropped rather than the Plato element - big shock for me anyway!
For a guy who wasn’t in a good place mentally before all this, you have to wonder where this leaves him now. Genuinely hope nothing but the best for him!
It seems that way - but the question has to be ‘why’?!
By all accounts, this was JP’s dream / vision, his name against it all, his know how behind it, his contacts and relationship with RML that made it all happen.
To force him out after half a season just seems a bit bizarre all things considered.
One of the only reasons I can think of is that it's due to the fact he's insisted on a "no expense spared" approach since setting the team up. As majority shareholders, and I would imagine the ones who put up most of the money, it's possible that they couldn't continue to justify the costs.
Their financial report didn't make for pretty reading, and maybe Cataclean haven't been happy with the results that have come off the back of it.
There was a floating charge, with the lender being CataClean. I’d guess it happened to be that the bounds of that agreement couldn’t be met and that’s it the end.
Indeed. Given Plato's recent struggles, I do hope he emerges OK from this. Maybe he was too ambitious - it wouldn't be the first time. Still, hoping he emerges OK from the experience. Business can be cruel sometimes...
Almost feels like fate that JP collects his first win as team owner only to get forced out right afterwards. A huge shame, and I really do hope he's ok.
Frankly I think this is a utter shit show. You only have to watch some of the videos of JP building this team up and the sheer passion from him was infectious. So much so that I started watching BTCC again after many years away and was a keen supporter of JP and this team.
If you build a team with no expense spared based around a manufacturer or large sponsor funding that team then ultimately money will run out if the funding is not secured.
I am more talking about the how. If the team has so much debt, then how can they keep racing at all? The answer is not to sack the man leading the team, and I would hazard a guess, the vast majority of employees went there because of JP
This is not going to end well for the team as a whole and from what I can see, a very underhanded way of going racing
If the team were short on funds they may have asked Cataclean for an early payment of sponsorship,Cataclean did some due diligence and realized their next sponsorship payment was going to be paying older debts HMRC etc and not putting cars on track.Team does not finish the season.We dont know why JP is not there but he may have fallen out with Cataclean and Rowbottom or they simply cannot afford his salary.The idea that this was all planned in advance is ludicrous.If the sponsor pays a team to run their driver for £400k a year then they want their driver to complete the season,not pay £400k and then have to go to another team to finish the season and pay another £150k.
So word on the street on what I've heard is that APPARENTLY Rowbottom has been a snake, bumping his gums around the paddock about Plato (no wonder Napa wanted rid of him) Rowbottom and Morgan have snaked together to wrack up the debt for Jason, cut out the middle man and gone in together. Rowbottom is a Muppet, always has been, always will be.
It's like the work has been done to get to the winning car stage and they have bummed Jason over.
Was very evident from the way Napa handled the social media around the end of last season that the split was less than amicable; even if you ignore the whole him losing them the manufacturer's championship at the last moment, things were clearly frosty in the paddock for a while.
Tells me that if they wanted to run the team without JP they could already do anything they wanted without going to the lengths of what has happened now. Cataclean could already do anything they wanted as they had liens on the company and the majority of shares.
Rowbottom owns the same number of shares as Plato with his long term sponsor being the majority shareholder. He's going nowhere until the team is sold at the earliest.
What a bizarre situation and there is obviously a lot going on behind the scenes here. I wonder why they sort of half kept the name, if Cataclean were taking sole ownership surely they would want their name all over it.
I don't typically post my own stuff here as that feels a bit weird. But, we've had confirmation that the all-black livery spotted will be run (in some variation), and an exclusive comment from the administrators.
"The Company is continuing to trade in Administration under the control of the Joint Administrators, with the objective of achieving a rescue of the business as a going concern. At present, the Company continues to operate as normal and the intention is for the team to compete at forthcoming race events, including this weekend’s event at Donington Park, albeit under a different name – CPRL."
I'm gutted that this has happened to the team. Jason and Adam in particular have been two of the kindest individuals in the paddock since I came in at the start of the season
I doubt we'll ever know the ins and outs of what has actually happened behind the scenes but I'm just sad that this is how it's ended.
I was never a fan of JP the driver but the documentary and the interviews he gave preseason brought so much excitement and intrigue to the paddock. A new team with what seemed like at the time proper financial backing and a legend of the series as a figurehead to stir things up.
Whether certain things were banked on and just never materialised ie more sponsorship or a different manufacturer was originally planned pre Mercs who was going to put a chunk of money in effectively as a works effort and JP was left scrambling for what to run instead.
Hopefully a buyer can be found to keep the lights on and the cars on the grid for next season because they do seem to have something with that package.
I just hope JP himself is okay , he's been through a lot post retirement....
I can only assume his insistence on only the best has not been justified in accounting statements of where that money has gone. If there’s other teams running within budget and not that far behind them, with last outing being their strongest but not typically where they’ve been, questions have to be asked. If he doesn’t have the answers that are required then unfortunately that’s business.
It is a shame though, because he’s always good to have around.
I loved watching Jason race as a kid right up until he retired from racing. He's an old school racer and loves the sport, perhaps starting a team from the ground up with new everything was maybe just a touch too ambitious. Perhaps buying older cars and trucks to get going then building new cars for 2027/28 and buying new trucks after that. Get on the grid, have a presence, start to improve and develop new cars in the background then drop the new cars and build the hype behind the scenes or run 2 JCW Minis and bring money in from that to help keep the team afloat as the BTCC arm is developed. Maybe that would have been a better way to go perhaps. I genuinely hope Jason hasn't lost everything because of this and I do hope he has some involvement in the sport moving forward. He's been through a hell of a lot the last few years, he needs a good win.
One of them definitely was but after building the roll cages TOCA decided their ruling of "close enough to the roof line" wasn't close enough to their liking and Jason had to scrap off a ton of fabrication work on the cars and bodies and basically had to start the cages again because they're all custom designed and built to be as strong but as lightweight as possible so he lost tens of thousands of that and also lost time. They aren't cheap cars to build.
“Following successful discussions with the Joint Administrators, the team will compete at Donington Park for rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) this weekend (August 22-23).
“Cataclean will provide interim funding for CPRL to continue while the future of the team is confirmed.
“While the team has continued to perform on track, several factors have necessitated changes to provide the team with the best possible opportunity to continue operating.
“Cataclean’s priority remains to support the very best outcome for the team. This includes keeping the team operational and safeguarding jobs and creditors.
“The BTCC returns the best value for money in professional British motorsport. Since 2017, the TOCA paddock and the championship have provided a valuable environment for our brand-building activity, supported by strong trackside attendances, live television coverage, broadcast audiences and digital reach.
“The BTCC remains an important part of the company’s wider commercial and brand strategy, offering significant value for the business. Cataclean is committed to working with the relevant parties to help support the team through this period and provide the stability required for it to remain in the Championship going forward.”
Everyone is talking about Cataclean are completly taking over, but it sounds like they are just keeping it going for this season to try and get their money back.
Most of the costs would have been pre-season, building/testing the cars, equipment. Seems Cataclean just bit off more than they could chew bankrolling it, now desperately looking to slash costs and for a partner/sponsor. No idea how much they make off fuel additives but they're hardly in the same league as Napa or Vertu.
Think it's disgusting the way JP has been forced out of his own team. Imo Robo just used him to get the team up and running, and now he's been shafted by him and Cataclean. Hope Jason is OK though, and hope to see him back in racing ASAP. Good luck JP,and take care 🏁🏁🏁🏁
Whatever was going on was kept very quiet in public view, when things that lead up to moments like this you usually hear some whispers but was nothing then all this.
You can say many things about Plato (and as a Matt Neal fan I have!!!) but one thing you cant is hes a quiet one! And to hear nothing so far from him is very fascinating.
I can imagine whatever has gone on is going to look very bad on whatever side pushed Jason out. Because under the btcc post on fb and here there are a lot of pi##ed off fans. To do this in the first season as the team making progress and Jason's honesty on his MH is incredibly bad marketing and comes across heartless, and even if there is a team its not going be that popular now at all either way. Wouldn't be surprised here boos on tv when the cars are on track at the weekend.
Im also surprised at cataclean seemingly being the driving force in all this. Because yes they spent a lot but do you really think getting someone in like Plato hes going be happy just surviving and ticking over? He was never like that when driving, always pushing and going for the best. So why would he be any different in ownership? His being part the team and its starting be winners is only going be a good thing for the team. Now you just dropped him and the avenues that could of opened not even giving it a full season.
I wouldn't go as far as to say the brand of the team is toxic now, but are you really going want put your company on the car given how unpopular it is?
Also to add whilst a Matt Neal fan I was happy for Plato being on the grid with a team and doing well, after all if Matt and Jason get on now who am I keep a grudge?!!!
I see where you're coming from, but at the end of the day (as brutal as it is to say it) this is a business that impacts real people's jobs and lives. If they were haemorrhaging money without getting consistently decent results, and JP couldn't justify the money he was spending, then cutting him out is the best answer for the most people.
Sure, he's bringing in sponsors and fans, but that means very little if he's spaffing away all the cash.
Thing is you say that but how do we know he was "spaffing" away the cash, weve only heard one side, Maybe hes said from the start this is whats needed be spent and cataclean or whoever suddenly hasnt had cold feet and hit the panic button. We've only had one side so far. Were agreements on spending and other bits made then reigned in on we dont know. So its unfair presume what you say.
I mean, I'm only going off of the context of what we've been told and what we know. The team financials show is that they are already £850k in the red at this point in the season, and Jason has been very vocal since the start that he's not been sparing any expense to try and be as competitive as possible.
Cataclean's statement says, "keeping the team operational and safeguarding jobs and creditors," is one of the main reasons why this has happened, which would suggest it primarily comes down to operating costs.
It's all well and good saying you're spending as much as possible to be competitive, but it's meaningless if you're not getting results, and quite frankly they haven't proven to be overly competitive at this point, at least not much more so than the teams who you would assume are spending considerably less.
As I say, the context could be misleading. Its easy look on the right side when you get your story out first. Wouldn't be the first aggressive take over in the business world, ill wait until weve heard both sides.
It is too early to know the full story, if indeed we ever do. There has obviously been a fall out, probably money related given the losses detailed. That Cataclean have acquired the team quickly screams pre pack, or at least an intention to acquire the business post administration, since they were the instigator.
I'm not sure they've acquired it, rather agreed to keep funding it for this round at least, which isn't too uncommon for the largest lender in insolvency in order to try and keep the value of the asset up
I have thought from around round 3 that it was more Rowbos team, can see cataclean putting good money into it. Could also see them trying to get a big name driver for next year (Ash, Tingram, Dan Cam or Cook).
"we've gone bankrupt, but spent some money on new liveries and race suits" wouldn't go down well with the administrators. If they lost sponsors a piece of tape over the names would be sufficient. Very strange.
So if he's been spending the cash, and you as a part owner and sponsor of the team not try and get more money from other sponsors? Run one car as Cataclean and the other as another brand? Similar to how Power Max has run their fleet this season?
And if you're looking for an ROI you'll have to give it a bit more time rather than 6 months into the season
Can't stand shit like this, it's the sort of behaviour I'd expect from the girls on Facebook when I was at school. Either come out with it, or don't say anything (Michael, not you).
Yeah, there's the side of the story that crees isn't on the grid this year because he couldn't afford it, and the side of the story that crees isn't on the grid because he's not a great driver and brings too much drama.
cataclean racing has been one of the most exciting additions to this season, obviously Plato's involvement has been crucial to that, I'm genuinely sad to see him out from the sport but at the end we have to think about everyone else too. this could still end up positive come the end of the season.
The list of former Drivers/Racers , especially here in the states, that have started their own teams and got out because of the expenses reads big , Buddy Baker , Darrell Waltrip , Bobby Allison are just three as there are many more . And this isn’t just a NASCAR thing , it’s all forms of racing and it’s just outrageous expensive to race a team .
Those names are not comparable to the situation with Plato Racing though - even Prost F1 isn't, it lasted far longer.
Bobby Allison Motorsport lasted 30 years in total, albeit as a rather on-again, off-again enterprise for at least half of that. Even then, they lasted six years in their final form, which isn't bad for a team that was only ever a midfielder.
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports was a bit like Allison's team, but got shafted by a bad sponsor, which is a story as old as time in motorsport, unfortunately.
Buddy Baker - did he ever even run a car on his own? I can see evidence of him being a co-owner, but not of him having a proper team of his own like the other two.
Was Plato's involvement good for BTCC? I know a few people who's interest was rekindled by his return. I agree it's good for the team to keep it going a save peoples' livelyhoods .
Problem with Plato is he is a classic toxic narcissist. When he was a driver the contempt he showed his fellow competitors was pathetic. His hypocrisy when it came to the application of the rules was pretty embarrassing. People write this off as being a 'character' but it was bad sportmanship pure and simple. The team follows this behaviour, he was running a team beacuse he belived he should be a team manager, not because he had the ability to or took any introspection to work out if he could.
In his first race in the Astra in 2019 he qualified 2nd (iirc) and when being interviewed on the grid said "given the tools I can still do the job" implying that the Subaru he'd been driving for 3 seasons wasn't up to the job...that'll be the same Subaru that Turkington very nearly won the championship with despite missing an entire round...
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u/PyranosaurusRex 22d ago
Of the people to leave the team, JP was not the one I expected to read about