Michael Caine made a long-awaited return to the top step of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup podium with victory in the final race of the 2015 season at Brands Hatch.
Caine completed a podium hat-trick for the weekend with a strong drive from third on the grid to the win, while Carl Boardley starred with a first podium finish of the season in only his fifth race since returning to the series after a season away.
It was Boardley who was awarded the reverse grid pole position and the former National Hot Rod World Champion just held off a determined Ollie Jackson through Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, with Jackson slotting into second ahead of Caine and Jordan Stilp.
Stilp looked to challenge for third as the field headed down the Pilgrims Drop, but on the outside for Hawthorn, the Rob Boston Racing man ended up running wide across the grass and gravel, resulting in a heavy race-ending collision with the tyres.
Carl Breeze used that opportunity to pass newly-crowned champion Tom Oliphant for fourth, which soon became the final podium place after Jackson saw him shuffled back on the run out of Surtees on lap five.
Caine got his nose around the outside initially, with Breeze then employing Nascar style bump-drafting tactics to ensure they both got ahead of Jackson heading into Hawthorns, with Oliphant also finding his way past his Century Motorsport team-mate.
Boardley’s lead remained until the start of lap eight, when a great run out of Clearways for Caine gave him the lead across the line – an advantage he would maintain for the next four laps until the red flag came out to bring the race to an early end.
That was following a spate of incidents that left Ginetta’s scattered around the GP circuit, with Ruben Anakhasyan spinning to a halt at Surtees while Matt Cowley and Jamie Orton finished their races in the Clearways and Stirlings gravel traps respectively.
Despite Orton’s troubles, third place overall for Breeze and second in the AM class for Connaire Finn, recruited by the team for this weekend, secured HHC Motorsport the 2015 Teams Championship title at the expense of Century.
The red flag seemed to come at the right time for Oliphant, with a fuel surge problem seeing him lose pace just as the flags emerged trackside, ensuring he would finish the season with his 26th top four finish in 27 races – just an engine failure at Thruxton spoiling a perfect card.
Jackson took fifth, his tenth top five finish of the campaign, with Tom Wrigley completing the top six ahead of Orton, who was classified in the final results along with Anakhasyan, the latter in 22nd overall.
Rob Wheldon and Mike Robinson completed their maiden Supercup outings in eighth and ninth respectively, with Callum Pointon rounding out the top ten ahead of Reece Somerfield, Will Moore and 2015 AM class champion Colin White, who was joined on the final class podium by Finn and Ade Barwick.