Three different drivers claimed wins in the trio of races which heralded the start of the British Touring Car Championship.

Brands Hatch staged the opening round with wins for Robert Collard, Matt Neal and Jason Plato (pictured).

There were no podium finishes for any of the local entrants with Redstone Racing’s Mat Jackson claiming the best finish for the Wrotham-based team, finishing fourth in the final race.

Dartford’s Tony Gilham, meanwhile, racing in a Honda Civic gradually improved throughout the weekend. After qualifying 20th on the grid he ended the weekend with an 11th place finish in race three.

The opening race, on Sunday, saw Collard power home in his BMW after profiting from a tangle between Dave Newsham - who had qualified on pole for the first time in his career - and Plato.

Neal took second and Collard’s team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole claimed third, just 36/1000ths of a second ahead of Plato. The earlier incident ended Newsham’s race.

Jackson passed Rob Austin’s Audi A4 on the final lap to grab seventh but team-mate Smith crashed. Griffin finished 14th and Gilham took 18th - two laps down.

Neal won race two after an exciting scrap with Plato for honours. Jackson survived a last-lap scare, after nearly tangling with Austin, to take fourth while Griffin was 12th, a place ahead of Gilham. There was a lucky escape for Nick Foster after his BMW ended up on its roof.

Plato took his career record of wins to 69 after winning a re-started race three. A multi-car collision two laps into the original race, which saw seven cars end up in the gravel, happened when Jackson’s car spilt fluid on the track. Redstone’s Smith (8th) and Griffin (11th) claimed their best wins of the day, as did Gilham.

Among the support races for the Touring Cars was the Renault UK Clio Cup and there was a win in the second event for Pembury’s Paul Rivett.

Maidstone’s James Dixon claimed two sixth place finishes, while Mike Bushell, from Tunbridge Wells, finished ninth in the opening race.