MG Racing's Jason Plato leads the field on Sunday Picture: Simon Hildrew

Jason Plato claimed two wins from three as the British Touring Car Championship opened their season up at Brands Hatch.

It was Brands’ first big event of the 2013 calendar and a big crowd weren’t disappointed.

Plato narrowly took the opening victory ahead of Andrew Jordan, having clashed with his race rival on the final corner, before taking the checkered flag with a gap of just two seconds.

Audi racer Rob Austin almost took advantage of that coming together between Plato and Jordan, as both ended up in the gravel, but he couldn’t make up enough ground as the leading pair maintained their positions before their off, to cross the finishing line.

"There was no malice and it didn’t affect the result," said Plato (pictured left). "My language on the radio was substantially worse until the team reminded me I’d won."

Plato and Jordan did battle once more in race two and the two came first and second once more, this time with a gap of just 0.989 seconds as they crossed the line following 27 exciting laps.

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden was stripped of third place, after his car failed post-race checks for ride height, meaning Jeff Smith took the final podium position.

Plato was unable to make it a hat-trick of wins as Matt Neal claimed the third and final race of the day on Sunday.

It was a Honda Racing 1-2 as Shedden bounced back from his previous race disappointment to finish second, with just a 0.083 second gap.

Plato had to settle for a fifth while Sam Tordoff claimed the final podium place.

Plato said: "I am delighted with the first two wins. Last year was a sign of what might have come for us at MG – but we’ve changed the balance considerably now so it’s much easier to drive. It has been a good weekend."

Wrotham-based Airwaves Racing endured a miserable weekend as component issues left them struggling to compete.

Mat Jackson’s car (right) over-heated in race one but he picked up points in race two, with a seventh place finish, while Aron Smith’s best finish of the day came in the opener - where he finished ninth.