The 44-year-old, the most successful driver in series history with 68 wins to his name, has taken up the challenge of leading the all-new MG6 GT squad after the withdrawal of the Silverline Chevrolet squad.

The MG cars, the manufacturers' first official entry since 2003, will be prepared by Triple Eight Race Engineering, who are proven winners in the championship and helped guide Plato to the first of his two titles in 2001 when they prepared the dominant Vauxhall Astra.

With the car having had minimal pre-season testing, Plato, who is paired with rising star Andy Neate, is not expected to be among the frontrunners early in the campaign, but cannot wait to get out on track in his new car.

"I'm incredibly excited about this weekend, the first in the new 2012 season," he told www.btcc.net.

"The car looks absolutely amazing and Triple Eight deserves a lot of credit for pulling out all the stops.

"This weekend is all about getting to grips with this NGTC car and realising its potential and the Indy Circuit is one I've had great success at so I genuinely can't wait."

The Honda Civics of defending champion Matt Neal and team-mate Gordon Shedden are widely tipped to be title contenders again, along with the Redstone Racing Ford Focus of Mat Jackson.