Jason Plato has been hurt in an incident during filming for the Channel 5 Fifth Gear programme.

SEAT Sport UK's Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship driver was testing a road-going Caparo T1 supercar at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground near Lutterworth in Leicestershire when it burst into flames at an estimated 150mph.

"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," he explained.

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.

Plato was taken by private car to the nearest accident and emergency facility at the Market Harborough and District Hospital. After initial treatment he was transferred by ambulance to Kettering General Hospital.

Following further treatment there, he was 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 home in Oxfordshire, before seeing a burns specialist again this morning.

We found the nearest hospital on our sat nav and Phil Bennett [former BTCCracing driver who was at the test] took me to the local A&E - Plato added.

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.

Despite receiving burns to his hands, his face and the back of the neck though he has vowed to race this weekend at Thruxton, where he will be looking to try and secure the BTCC drivers' title. He is currently nine points ahead of Fabrizio Giovanardi.

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