Mark Davies took to the top step of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup podium for the first time in three years following a commanding drive to victory in the final race at Rockingham.
Davies’ first win since Snetterton in 2013 came as the Total Control Racing ace benefitted from the reverse grid pole position for a second consecutive weekend.
It was his TCR stablemate Callum Pointon who made the best launch from the front row of the grid, but Davies was able to fend him off into Deene for the first time.
Tom Hibbert briefly slotted into third before Will Burns squeezed past at the Tarzan hairpin, with any chance of a fight back being halted by the emergence of the safety car.
That came after a spin into the gravel at the final chicane for Carl Boardley, who was battling with Rob Gaffney at the time, who himself then served a drive through penalty.
At the restart Pointon made an immediately challenge for the lead at Deene, resulting in the top three exiting the corner side-by-side as they headed towards Yentwood.
It was Pointon who came off worst as slight contact with Davies in the braking zone sent him spinning around, with Davies recovering to maintain his lead from Burns and Jamie Orton.
Benefitting from the various dramas to climb up the order meanwhile was Tom Wrigley, who had risen from the back of the grid to the top six before passing Ben Green for fifth.
Wrigley’s efforts to gain more ground were thwarted by Hibbert however, who produced a superb defensive drive to keep the Rob Boston Racing G55 in his rear view mirror.
At the front meanwhile, Burns and Orton kept within arms length of the leader but could not fashion an overtaking opportunity, with Davies taking the victory by 1.2 seconds.
Burns set the fastest lap of the race as he completed a podium hat-trick for the weekend, results that have moved him from 93 points off the championship lead to just 19 with five races remaining.
Orton added a third place finish to his double victory earlier in the weekend, while Hibbert and Wrigley completed the top five – the latter’s only points of a nightmare meeting.
Gaffney and Pointon recovered from their dramas to take seventh and eighth respectively behind Green, while a busy race in the AM class eventually led to a victory for Chris Ingram.
That came as pace-setters for the weekend Colin White and Fraser Robertson both lost ground at the first corner of lap one, with White eventually having to retire from the race.
It came down to David Brooks and Chris Car for second in class, with the latter taking the position before suffering an unfortunate spin at Tarzan – though he did retain third at the finish.
Full race results can be found here.
