Michael Caine scored a dramatic victory at Brands Hatch yesterday (Saturday 29 March) in round one of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. In a race full of incident, Caine scored his first Carrera Cup victory after a fierce battle with Andy Britnell.A damp track and the threat of more rain made tyre choice very difficult ahead of the race. Eventually, the Porsche Motorsport cars of Britnell and Steve Rance, along with Sam Hancock (Jota Sport), Tony Gilham (ReDesign Racing) and Fergus Campbell (Red Line Racing) elected to start on wet tyres, while the rest went for slicks.Caine got a superb start to lead into Paddock Hill Bend, having dived ahead of poleman Tim Bridgman, his Team Parker Racing team mate. Unfortunately, Bridgman and Hancock then made contact and spun into the gravel and out of the race. Meanwhile, Britnell made a fine start and used the grip from his treaded tyres to dive through to second place from Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing).After a safety car period while the cars of Bridgman and Hancock were moved, Caine resumed in the lead but was driving on a knife-edge on slicks in incredibly difficult conditions as Britnell challenged constantly. It was only after the race that Caine realised that he’d been battling with his friend and former team mate.A second safety car period came after Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing) spun out of fourth place at Paddock Hill Bend, and there were more anxious moments for Caine as the small lead he had built was wiped out. Now, Harvey was also able to move right up onto Britnell’s tail. But Caine was driving superbly and was able to rebuild his lead over the final laps. “I was just wishing that race away,” admitted Caine. “My first Carrera Cup win has been a long time coming and it’s a great feeling.”Britnell could not quite hold Harvey off to the flag and into the final lap Harvey edged ahead to take second. “The conditions were really difficult and the cars on wets certainly had the advantage at the start. I’m just glad to have finished.” Britnell was elated to have run in the thick of the lead battle, while Phil Quaife (Jota Sport) battled through to fourth after a tough fight with Rance. “That was an amazing race; we were battling all the time,” said Rance who drove a fine race in the pro-am2 car to finish an eventual fifth overall. In a big queue of cars fighting for fourth, Gilham took sixth from Charles Bateman (Team Parker Racing) and Campbell. Bateman drove a dogged chase of the cars on wets and finally nipped ahead of Campbell at the end of the race as the treaded tyres started to lose their grip.