Tonbridge's Mike Bushell was thrilled to make his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship debut at Brands Hatch, on a weekend when Honda's Matt Neal and MG's Jack Goff headed the points table.

The 25-year-old, who won last year's Renault UK Clio Cup, put in three solid performances and now leads the Jack Sears Trophy for rookie drivers.

Bushell, racing a Ford Focus for the AmD Tuning.com team, joined a grid of 26 racers and saw Rob Collard, Gordon Shedden and Neal claim a win apiece over the three races.

In race one, Bushell finished 21st of 25 finishers in an encounter that saw Collard lead home Aron Smith and Jason Plato after early leader and pole-sitter Andy Priaulx struggled on the soft tyre.

The all-new Honda Civic Type R then went on to score a double victory with Shedden taking the win in race two.

One year after the team debuted its Honda Civic Tourer, the new Type R proved a success on the tight and twisty Indy circuit.

Bushell improved to take 17th in the second encounter - just two places out of the point-scoring positions - while Priaulx and 2014 champion Colin Turkington completed the podium placings.

They were helped when early race leader Plato suffered a late puncture which put him in the gravel and out of contention.

Priaulx chased Honda Yuasa Racing's Shedden to the flag but the Scotsman held on to win by just 0.040s.

Bushell starred in the third and final encounter as Honda's Matt Neal grabbed the victory.

The Kent man finished within the points by bringing his Focus home in 11th.

Up front, pole-sitter Rob Austin remained at the head of the field in the early stages but the Audi driver couldn’t shake off the attentions of Neal and the MG of Jack Goff.

Neal made his move on lap 21, and was immediately followed through by Goff at Paddock Hill Bend.

Goff kept Neal honest throughout and the gap across the line of just 0.196s, with Aron Smith third.

Post race, Bushell said: "I set my target as 15th so to get 11th is really brilliant.

"The car was getting better through the weekend.

"For qualifying I had done some good testing here so it was not as good as I had hoped for but we made steady progress.

"It's a lot higher level of drivers - the quality is unbelievable.

"But at the end of the day it's another race for me and it's not as daunting as I thought it would be."

Bushell now leads the Jack Sears Trophy from Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook and Houseman Racing’s Stewart Lines.

Joint-championship leader Neal said: "This result is just so unexpected.

“For the team to come away with two wins out of three is fantastic.

"It’s early days yet, but this is a brilliant start for ‘Flash’ (Gordon Shedden), myself and all the guys who have worked so hard over such a short space of time to get the car ready.

"I’m absolutely over the moon.”

Goff, who is now heading the championship with Neal on 37 points, added: "It was a great race and a good result to end the weekend.

"There’s been a lot of hard work and commitment from sponsors to make sure I was back on the grid this season, so it’s good to be able to give them a strong result first time out."

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now heads to Donington Park in Derbyshire on 18-19 April.