Jason Plato could not hide his delight after a remarkable change in fortunes saw him on the winner’s podium at the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Brands Hatch.

Four days before the race, Oxfordshire ace Plato did not have a race, but romped to victory in a RML-prepared Chevrolet Lacetti he had never driven before the race weekend began.

It was Plato’s 47th BTCC race win of his career and the first for Chevrolet since 1975.

The former champion was left without a drive in this year’s series following the withdrawal of the SEAT Sport UK team at the end of 2008.

The 41-year old concluded a last-minute deal to contest the opening rounds – and won the third and final race on the day.

“A week ago I didn’t have a drive today I was back in the cut and thrust of the BTCC doing what I enjoy and to finish the weekend with a win is absolutely fantastic,” Plato said.

Plato qualified in ninth place for the first race, and battled to sixth by the chequered flag.

The second race, however, did not go quite so smoothly.

Despite a promising start, the Chevrolet was at the receiving end of some predictable midfield argy-bargy and Plato was shuffled down to finish tenth.

Making the most of his pole position for the third race, Plato led off the line but then, at the start of lap two, the Chevrolet was struck from behind by the following BMW of Jonathan Adam.

Despite crossing the line in second, race officials later decided that Adam’s overtaking manoeuvre was unfair and gave him a four second penalty – sufficient to drop him down to second and promote Plato to first.

Plato added: “I’ve got to give a huge thank you to everyone at RML and my personal sponsors – without them this wouldn’t have been possible.

“It’s been a massive uphill struggle, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“We’re still paying the price for putting this deal together so late and thus missing all the pre-season testing, but we’ve been changing the set-up on the car all weekend and finally made some big steps forward.

“As to the future, we’d love to be back for more and there’s a massive desire to be in this fantastic championship.”

Meanwhile, Alice Powell became the youngest person ever to compete in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championships at Brands Hatch, aged just 16.

Powell, who does not have even a provisional driving licence, raced for Lewis Hamilton's former team, Manor Competition, finishing 13th and 15th in her races.