Oxford's Jason Plato feels it’s still odds against him retaining his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title – despite closing the gap at the top with a brace of wins at Brands Hatch.

The defending champion is among an unprecedented five drivers – together with Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden, Mat Jackson and James Nash – who are all still in with a chance of capturing the crown going into the final round at Silverstone next weekend.

Plato is tied in second with Honda’s Gordon Shedden, five points behind leader Matt Neal, who also drives a Honda Racing Team Civic.

But the Oxford man feels his leading rivals will have the edge over his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze at the Northamptonshire circuit.

“Realistically, I think that’s as far as we can go,” he said after last weekend’s double.

“We’ve made up some massive ground today, but Silverstone is going to be ideally suited for cars with turbo engines, which we don’t have.

“It will need something very strange to happen there to stop the Hondas, but never say never . . . ”

Plato won a dramatic opening race at Brands Hatch as Neal and Shedden both failed to score after suffering punctures.

He led all the way from pole position, with Jackson claiming the runner-up spot in his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus after Plato’s teammate, Alex MacDowall, slowed on the final lap.

Plato said: “My car is fantastic around here. I suppose this does get me back into it, but it’s still way too early to think about titles.

“If both Honda drivers can have problems then anybody can. I need a super points score today to stand any chance.”

But the Oxford driver then took the series lead by making it a double in race two with another flag-to-flag victory.

Jackson was second again, just ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole in a Team Aon Ford Focus, with Neal and Shedden back in seventh and eighth after starting in 17th and 18th following their race one punctures.

Plato commented: “The car was absolutely perfect again. We developed this car in 2010, so it would work well with extra ballast and that’s why I was able to control this race.”

However, his hopes of a treble were dashed in race three as Neal took victory from Shedden to regain the championship lead, with Plato back in sixth.

Standings (top eight): 1 M Neal 225pts, 2= J Plato, G Shedden, 4 M Jackson 189, 5 J Nash 181, 6 A Jordan 127, 7 T Chilton 116, 8 R Collard 105.