Tim Harvey was crowned champion in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch after finishing second to Tim Bridgman in final race of the season.

There was disaster for poleman Tim Bridgman (Stansted) in round 19 as the grid assembled when a broken driveshaft put him out.

Instead, Harvey (Oxford) dived into the lead off the line as Caine (Newmarket) grabbed second from Sam Hancock (London) on the race to the first corner. Now Harvey faced 33 laps with his title rival filling his mirrors, and the gap ranged from around a second to just a few inches as they reeled off the laps, and started working through the slower traffic.

“I just got my head down and tried to win the race,” said Harvey. But mid-race, a problem developed, highlighted by a warning light, and he began to lose engine revs over the closing stages. Meanwhile, Caine started preparing for a last lap attack, recognising that his best chance was under braking for Clearways. “The car had good pace, but Michael would have got past,” said Harvey after the race. But, with seven laps to run, the race was red flagged when Ollie Jackson (Reigate) spun into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend.

“The red flag helped me a lot,” admitted Harvey. “It didn’t happen and it’s unfortunate,” countered Caine. “But we’re still here,” he said of the title race. Hancock ran third all the way, but could not challenge the leading pair. “We made a massive change to the car, but the gap to the guys in front was the same,” he said. Running right behind Hancock to the finish with an excellent drive was Jake Rosenzweig (London) after battling ahead of Phil Quaife (Tonbridge) early in the race.

“I’ve been very close to this title before,” said Harvey after winning the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship title on Sunday. “I haven’t enjoyed my racing as much in years; the Porsche 911 race cars are great and the competition is brilliant,” he added after seeing off the title challenge of Caine. Having finished championship runner-up three times in the previous four seasons, it was an emotional result for Harvey at the end of a tough season of racing.