Jason Plato has targeted two race wins in Brands Hatch’s opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship round tomorrow – and ten in total during the 2011 season.

The 43-year-old Oxford racer is going for this third BTCC drivers’ title – his second in a row – in 2011 in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze.

At Brands last October he clinched the 2010 crown by two race wins in a car that was laden with the maximum success ballast of 45kgs.

Ominously, he says his 2011 Cruze is even better and he also knows that one more win will see him surpass Andy Rouse’s long-standing record of 60 race victories in the BTCC.

Plato said: “I’ll be disappointed if we’re not super competitive this weekend. Brands Indy suits our car and I certainly got a better feeling from the new car in the recent test we did there.

“We were able to lap consistently around lap record pace.

“I want to win back-to-back titles and win it well – like we did last year when we won it very well.

“My season record for wins is nine, so it’d be nice to win ten this year.

“If I’m going to beat Andy’s record then it’d be nice to really push the thing up the road.”

Plato believes it will be vital to take full advantage in the season’s opening rounds so as to build up as big a points haul as possible.

His Cruze will continue competing with a tried and tested normally aspirated engine while many of his main rivals, including Honda duo Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, will still be learning about the new turbo motors that are powering their Civics in 2011.