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

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