Paul Ricard BEC: McLaren fends off Ferrari to take surprise win

At the start of the race, the two Bentley machines made a rocketing start from second row of the grid, passing the #53 Ferrari on the run down into turn 1.

The duo then dispatched the pole-sitting Ferrari of Pasin Lathouras, with the #58 McLaren also getting its nose ahead as the leaders went four abreast into turn 10.

Meanwhile, from seventh on the grid, the #34 Pro-Am Ferrari of Matteo Malucelli starting charging its way up the pack, passing cars in quick succession in the first 30 minutes of the race.

Just as it started closing on the #7 Bentley for the lead, the #77 Porsche caught fire, bringing out first of many full course yellows.

The leading trio, along with several other drivers, took advantage of the situation to dive into the pits, with Bentley regaining 1-2 positions after their respective stops.

Although the two green-and-white cars were well clear of the pack, the team took a decision to let the #8 machine ahead, citing speed difference between the two cars.

The decision would go on to prove crucial later as the #7 car made contact with one of the Lamborghinis after 2 hours of racing, with a suspected ABS issue.  The subsequent repair job dropped the car well down the order and it could never recover enough to finish in the top 10.

Back in front, the #8 Bentley seemed a surefire winner before things began to unravel with just over an hour to go.

At that moment, the M-Sport-run machine was handed a drive-through penalty for failing to slow down under the full course yellow, reducing its once unassailable lead to under 10 seconds.

If that wasn’t enough, the car caught fire during its final pitstop, with fuel spilling out of the hose and near the exhaust pipes. The time lost in extinguishing the fire and subsequently servicing the car dropped it down into fourth place and a lap down on the leaders.

Meanwhile, the #58 McLaren took advantage of another FCY to take the lead of the race, while the #50 Ferrari stayed out and dropped down to second place.

Although the 488 GT3 was visibly quicker than the 570, it couldn’t close the gap enough in the final hour, handing McLaren its second victory of the season.

The #3 Team WRT took a surprise podium finish in the Audi R8 GT3 machine, making one less pitstop than the majority of its rival to grab P3.

The #23 Nissan of Leo Machitski, Phil Keen, Marco Mapelli claimed an unlikely fifth, with the #23 Nissan making major strides under the dark at the hands of Lucas Ordonez to finish ahead of the #26 Audi.

The #28 Team WRT Audi was classified seventh, ahead of the leading Pro-Am Ferrari machines of #11 Kessel and #52 AF Corse.

The #101 Lamborghini of Fabio Babini, Patric Niederhauser, Daniel Zampieri completed the top 10. The Italian car maker could have secured a better result, had the #19 machine not incurred a drive-through penalty for causing a collision with the #42 Ferrari.

Likewise, the #84 HTP Mercedes AMG could have finished in the top five, had it not been for a gearbox issue that led to its retirement.