Autosport

HTP Mercedes drivers Dominik Baumann, Jazeman Jaafar and Maximilian Buhk claimed a narrow victory in the Silverstone round of the Blancpain GT Series.

The trio triumphed aboard their Mercedes-AMG GT3 by less than a second over the WRT Audi R8 LMS of Frederic Vervisch and brothers Dries and Laurens Vanthoor at the end of the three-hour BGTS Endurance Cup event.

Buhk appeared to have the race in the bag after edging away from Laurens Vanthoor after the final round of pitstops, holding an advantage of five seconds when the safety car came out with 40 minutes to go.

The Audi was less than half a second behind after a protracted yellow-flag period, but Buhk was able eke out an advantage over the final minutes of the race.

The German stretched his advantage to move than two seconds before backing off over the final lap.

Buhk said: “I was just focusing on the restart and trying to pull a gap, and thankfully it worked out.

“I could see him in my mirrors and really pushed.”

Baumann had completed the first stint in third place behind the Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Mirko Bortolotti and the ISR Audi driven by Franck Perera.

Jaafar resumed in the same position behind Rolf Ineichen in the Lamborghini and the WRT Audi with Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, which had leaped up from seventh after short-fuelling during its first stop.

The Audi and Mercedes passed the Lamborghini in the Village complex on lap 37 and then Jaafar snuck inside Vanthoor at Brooklands to take the lead.

Jaafar was able to pull away into a six-second lead before handing over to Buhk before the next round of pitstops closed up the lead battle.

The Grasser Lamborghini, in which Jeroen Bleekemolen completed the race, ended up more than 20s down in third position.

Rowe BMW driver Philipp Eng overhauled the second of the HTP Mercedes with Indy Dontje at the wheel to claim fourth position in the M6 GT3 he shared with Maxime Martin and Alexander Sims.

Dontje, who shared the car with Clemens Schmid and Luciano Bacheta, made an attempt to repass the BMW at the end of the final lap, finishing just over a tenth behind.

Shane van Gisbergen claimed sixth position in the closing stages in the Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 he shared with Rob Bell and Colm Ledogar.

Pro-am honours went to the Black Falcon Mercedes of Maro Engel, Miguel Toril and Oliver Morley, which came from third to first in Engel’s hands over the final two laps.

RESULT – 83 LAPS

Pos Class Driver Team Car Gap
1 Pro D.Baumann, J.Jaafar, M.Buhk HTP Motorsport Mercedes 3h01m35.700s
2 Pro D.Vanthoor, F.Vervisch, L.Vanthoor Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 0.963s
3 Pro R.Ineichen, J.Bleekemolen, M.Bortolotti GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini 22.163s
4 Pro A.Sims, P.Eng, M.Martin ROWE Racing BMW 23.814s
5 Pro L.Bacheta, I.Dontje, C.Schmid HTP Motorsport Mercedes 23.938s
6 Pro C.Ledogar, R.Bell, S.Gisbergen Garage 59 McLaren 29.114s
7 Pro G.Guilvert, M.Parisy, C.Haase Sainteloc Junior Team Audi 31.111s
8 Pro V.Abril, G.Smith, S.Kane Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley 33.675s
9 Pro A.Garcia, W.Stevens, N.Muller Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 45.017s
10 Pro F.Babini, D.Zampieri, P.Niederhauser Attempto Racing Lamborghini 46.640s
11 Pro H.Haupt, A.Simonsen, A.Christodoulou Black Falcon Mercedes 47.593s
12 Pro N.Catsburg, S.Dusseldorp, J.Klingmann ROWE Racing BMW 49.333s
13 Pro S.Leonard, M.Meadows, R.Frijns Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 50.265s
14 Pro E.P-Companc, A.Balzan, R.Giammaria Spirit of Race Ferrari 56.834s
15 Pro M.Stockinger, F.Salaquarda, F.Stippler ISR Audi 58.795s
16 Pro P.Lathouras, A.P.Guidi, M.Rugolo Spirit of Race Ferrari 1m02.901s
17 Pro-Am O.Morley, M.Toril, M.Engel Black Falcon Mercedes 1m07.602s
18 Pro-Am A.Al Harthy, D.Modell, J.Adam Oman Racing Team Aston Martin 1m09.886s
19 Pro-Am H.Hassid, P.Giauque, F.Perera ISR Audi 1m10.736s
20 Pro R.Baptista, S.Jimenez, F.Albuquerque Team WRT Audi 1 Lap
21 Pro M.Beretta, A.Piccini, L.Stolz GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini 1 Lap
22 Pro S.Moore, A.Fontana, A.Watson Garage 59 McLaren 1 Lap
23 Pro A.De Leener, P.Kox, P.Kaffer Team WRT Audi 1 Lap
24 Pro D.Cammish, J.Gounon, C.Zochling Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini 1 Lap
25 Pro-Am D.Perfetti, L.Cazenave, M.Lyons Akka ASP Mercedes 1 Lap
26 Pro-Am S.Costantini, G.Berton, M.Beretta Ombra Racing Lamborghini 1 Lap
27 Pro-Am T.O.-Cole, I.Loggie, C.MacLeod Team Parker Racing Bentley 1 Lap
28 Pro-Am M.Simmons, R.Sarazin, S.Walkinshaw Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan 1 Lap
29 Pro-Am M.Broniszewski, A.Bonacini, A.Rizzoli Kessel Racing Ferrari 1 Lap
30 Pro-Am M.Koebolt, G.Roda, S.Colombo BMW Team Italia BMW 1 Lap
31 Pro-Am J.Pisarik, M.Malucelli Scuderia Praha Ferrari 1 Lap
32 Pro-Am M.Poole, R.Abra, J.Osborne Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini 2 Laps
33 Am S.Vancampenh., P.Ehret Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 2 Laps
34 Pro-Am M.Ishikawa, L.Bontempelli, G.Fisichella AF Corse Ferrari 2 Laps
35 Pro-Am O.Grotz, K.Ojjeh, J.Darras Boutsen Ginion Racing BMW 2 Laps
36 Pro-Am A.Mattschull, S.Parrow, D.Keilwitz Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 2 Laps
37 Am M.Ricci, J-L.Beaubelique, G.Vannelet Akka ASP Mercedes 2 Laps
38 Am M.Konopka, A.Lewandowski, T.Myszkowski ARC Bratislava Lamborghini 2 Laps
39 Pro-Am G.Lallement, M.Rostan, M.Bonanomi Sainteloc Junior Team Audi 2 Laps
40 Am C.Cooper, C.Harris, D.Pierce Team Parker Racing Bentley 3 Laps
41 Am G.Kondakov, A.Moiseev, R.Ragazzi AF Corse Ferrari 4 Laps
42 Pro-Am T.Cornac, R.Narac, M.Jousse IMSA Performance Porsche 4 Laps
43 Pro L.Frey, S.Ortelli, A.Costa Emil Frey Racing Jaguar 4 Laps
44 Pro-Am M.Van Splunteren, L.Machiels, J.Mul Attempto Racing Lamborghini 4 Laps
45 Am M.Zanuttini, V.Gitlin, L.Talbot Kessel Racing Ferrari 7 Laps
46 Pro M.Soulet, W.Reip, A.Soucek Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley 8 Laps
47 Am R.Ricci, N.Stievenart, T.Nicolle CMR by Sport Garage Ferrari 23 Laps
Am S.Earle, B.Delhez, D.Perel Kessel Racing Ferrari Retirement
Am P.Mann, F.Guedes, R.Mastronardi Spirit of Race Ferrari Retirement
Pro M.Seefried, R.Salikhov, N.Siedler Rinaldi Racing Ferrari Retirement
Pro-Am P.Keen, L.Machitski, M.Mapelli Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Retirement
Pro L.Ordonez, M.Takaboshi, A.Buncombe Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan Retirement
Pro-Am C.Mateu, J.Haring, N.Armindo Attempto Racing Porsche Withdrawn
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