Britain's Tom Chilton has thrown down the gauntlet to Italian veteran Fabrizio Giovanardi, who begins his defence of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands.

Chilton, buoyed by winning the final round at the circuit last season, will debut the new Arena Motorsport Ford Focus and the 23-year-old from Surrey believes it will have the beating of Giovanardi's Vauxhall Vectra.

"This is Vauxhall's third year with their car and they can't develop it any more," he said. "Our Ford is a newer chassis and on paper it looks a lot better. I can tell it's going to be a very special car. The feeling I got for certain aspects were really impressive."

Neither Chilton, who has seven career wins in BTCC, nor Giovanardi will have to contend with the diesel-powered SEAT of Jason Plato which proved so competitive last season.

SEAT have quit the series, leaving Plato to find a last-minute drive with a privately-run Chevrolet.

But Giovanardi, the 42-year-old former European Touring Car champion now shooting for his third straight title in Britain, knows that Chilton (right) has him in his sights. He said: "The SEAT was quick last year and Plato was a hard competitor. But it won't be any easier because the SEAT is no longer here. There could be a surprise from the Ford.

"We have developed our car maybe to 95 per cent of its potential, so we're looking for just that final five per cent.

"We've found something to improve our performance. It might not be enough but I'm going for a third straight title."