HTP Mercedes wins Silverstone BES round, SVG’s McLaren 6th

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

PosClassDriverTeamCarGap
1ProD.Baumann, J.Jaafar, M.BuhkHTP MotorsportMercedes3h01m35.700s
2ProD.Vanthoor, F.Vervisch, L.VanthoorBelgian Audi Club Team WRTAudi0.963s
3ProR.Ineichen, J.Bleekemolen, M.BortolottiGRT Grasser Racing TeamLamborghini22.163s
4ProA.Sims, P.Eng, M.MartinROWE RacingBMW23.814s
5ProL.Bacheta, I.Dontje, C.SchmidHTP MotorsportMercedes23.938s
6ProC.Ledogar, R.Bell, S.GisbergenGarage 59McLaren29.114s
7ProG.Guilvert, M.Parisy, C.HaaseSainteloc Junior TeamAudi31.111s
8ProV.Abril, G.Smith, S.KaneBentley Team M-SportBentley33.675s
9ProA.Garcia, W.Stevens, N.MullerBelgian Audi Club Team WRTAudi45.017s
10ProF.Babini, D.Zampieri, P.NiederhauserAttempto RacingLamborghini46.640s
11ProH.Haupt, A.Simonsen, A.ChristodoulouBlack FalconMercedes47.593s
12ProN.Catsburg, S.Dusseldorp, J.KlingmannROWE RacingBMW49.333s
13ProS.Leonard, M.Meadows, R.FrijnsBelgian Audi Club Team WRTAudi50.265s
14ProE.P-Companc, A.Balzan, R.GiammariaSpirit of RaceFerrari56.834s
15ProM.Stockinger, F.Salaquarda, F.StipplerISRAudi58.795s
16ProP.Lathouras, A.P.Guidi, M.RugoloSpirit of RaceFerrari1m02.901s
17Pro-AmO.Morley, M.Toril, M.EngelBlack FalconMercedes1m07.602s
18Pro-AmA.Al Harthy, D.Modell, J.AdamOman Racing TeamAston Martin1m09.886s
19Pro-AmH.Hassid, P.Giauque, F.PereraISRAudi1m10.736s
20ProR.Baptista, S.Jimenez, F.AlbuquerqueTeam WRTAudi1 Lap
21ProM.Beretta, A.Piccini, L.StolzGRT Grasser Racing TeamLamborghini1 Lap
22ProS.Moore, A.Fontana, A.WatsonGarage 59McLaren1 Lap
23ProA.De Leener, P.Kox, P.KafferTeam WRTAudi1 Lap
24ProD.Cammish, J.Gounon, C.ZochlingKonrad MotorsportLamborghini1 Lap
25Pro-AmD.Perfetti, L.Cazenave, M.LyonsAkka ASPMercedes1 Lap
26Pro-AmS.Costantini, G.Berton, M.BerettaOmbra RacingLamborghini1 Lap
27Pro-AmT.O.-Cole, I.Loggie, C.MacLeodTeam Parker RacingBentley1 Lap
28Pro-AmM.Simmons, R.Sarazin, S.WalkinshawNissan GT Academy Team RJNNissan1 Lap
29Pro-AmM.Broniszewski, A.Bonacini, A.RizzoliKessel RacingFerrari1 Lap
30Pro-AmM.Koebolt, G.Roda, S.ColomboBMW Team ItaliaBMW1 Lap
31Pro-AmJ.Pisarik, M.MalucelliScuderia PrahaFerrari1 Lap
32Pro-AmM.Poole, R.Abra, J.OsborneBarwell MotorsportLamborghini2 Laps
33AmS.Vancampenh., P.EhretRinaldi RacingFerrari2 Laps
34Pro-AmM.Ishikawa, L.Bontempelli, G.FisichellaAF CorseFerrari2 Laps
35Pro-AmO.Grotz, K.Ojjeh, J.DarrasBoutsen Ginion RacingBMW2 Laps
36Pro-AmA.Mattschull, S.Parrow, D.KeilwitzRinaldi RacingFerrari2 Laps
37AmM.Ricci, J-L.Beaubelique, G.VanneletAkka ASPMercedes2 Laps
38AmM.Konopka, A.Lewandowski, T.MyszkowskiARC BratislavaLamborghini2 Laps
39Pro-AmG.Lallement, M.Rostan, M.BonanomiSainteloc Junior TeamAudi2 Laps
40AmC.Cooper, C.Harris, D.PierceTeam Parker RacingBentley3 Laps
41AmG.Kondakov, A.Moiseev, R.RagazziAF CorseFerrari4 Laps
42Pro-AmT.Cornac, R.Narac, M.JousseIMSA PerformancePorsche4 Laps
43ProL.Frey, S.Ortelli, A.CostaEmil Frey RacingJaguar4 Laps
44Pro-AmM.Van Splunteren, L.Machiels, J.MulAttempto RacingLamborghini4 Laps
45AmM.Zanuttini, V.Gitlin, L.TalbotKessel RacingFerrari7 Laps
46ProM.Soulet, W.Reip, A.SoucekBentley Team M-SportBentley8 Laps
47AmR.Ricci, N.Stievenart, T.NicolleCMR by Sport GarageFerrari23 Laps
AmS.Earle, B.Delhez, D.PerelKessel RacingFerrariRetirement
AmP.Mann, F.Guedes, R.MastronardiSpirit of RaceFerrariRetirement
ProM.Seefried, R.Salikhov, N.SiedlerRinaldi RacingFerrariRetirement
Pro-AmP.Keen, L.Machitski, M.MapelliBarwell MotorsportLamborghiniRetirement
ProL.Ordonez, M.Takaboshi, A.BuncombeNissan GT Academy Team RJNNissanRetirement
Pro-AmC.Mateu, J.Haring, N.ArmindoAttempto RacingPorscheWithdrawn

HTP Mercedes wins Silverstone BES round, SVG’s McLaren 6th

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