Although Jason Plato was happy to salvage tenth during today's qualifying at Silverstone, the Team BMR driver was left to rue a small engine issue, which could potentially thwart the double British Touring Car champi🅷on's quest for a third title.

The Volkswagen CC driver spent most of the 30 minute session mi💞red in thick of the midfield runners but 𝐆a last minute flyer pulled Plato back into the top-ten as his chief championship rival Gordon Shedden qualified onto the front row.

To compound Plato's wo🐎es, the 93-time race winner said his best lap was then compromised when Rob Austin made a slight error in front but didn't hold it against the Audi driver๊.

"Yeah a bit of a save," Plato told ltxcn.top "I lost a ten🦩th on my best lap with Rob Austin, which wasn't his fault. He made a mistake going into Luffield and didn't realise I was on the inside so he then cut across and I had to back out of it.

"What would a tenth do? Put me further up tꦇhe road maybe but we've got an engine problem. The car at Rockingham wasn't quick in a straight line and𒊎 it's not quick in a straight line here."

Plato says the issue is isolated to his side of the garage and admꦆits he and his BMR squad a🤪re still yet to determine what the underlying cause for the loss of power is.

"We've seen a big deviation between my speeds down the straights compared to Colin [Turkington] and Aron [Smith]. It's just on my side▨," Plato continued.

"Also with 💯the weight delta, Colin and I should be closer together while Aron should ꦛbe up the road. I'm a further away from Colin down the straight, than he is to Aron.

"We get to the straights💃 and they keep accelerating but I start slowing up. That's not just weight, that's something else and we saw that at Rockingham. Normally, with no weight on, the VW's - apart from the Ford's - are the quickest in the straight line.🔥 At Rockingham with no weight I was mid grid.

"Here [Silverstone] I think we'll be at the bottom o🉐f the speed traps in clean air, even with the tow it will be difficult. My best lap I did was in the tow. I think the balance is OK but we're just struggling with a little engine problem.

"We're not quite sure what is but the boys are going 𝐆to pull it apart and have a look𓂃."