REIGNING British Touring Car champion Fabrizio Giovanardi got his defence off to a winning start at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

The Italian VX Racing driver won the opening two races while Team RAC’s Colin Turkington claimed honours in race three.

Giovanardi had a hard fought battle to win race one, as he fended off the attentions of BMW’s Mat Jackson, to win by just 0.215 seconds.

Race two saw Giovanardi win once more and this time he won by almost a second ahead of Team Halford’s Gordon Shedden. Finishing third was Jason Plato.

There was drama for Wrotham-based Motorbase Performance driver Steven Kane on lap 16 as he crashed into the pit wall after receiving a shunt from Mike Jordan.

Turkington, who had finished eighth in race two after climbing up from 20th, tasted victory in the final touring car race of the day.

Mat Jackson came a close second once more and he almost won the race after attempting an over-taking move on Turkington on the last lap.

Turkington hung on, however, with Jackson finishing second ahead of Matt Neal.

Race 1: 1 Fabrizio Giovanardi, 2 Mat Jackson, 3 Jason Plato. Race 2: 1 Fabrizio Giovanardi, 2 Gordon Shedden, 3 Jason Plato. Race 3: 1 Colin Turkington, 2 Mat Jackson, 3 Matt Neal.