Bentley celebrates winning the 1000km of Paul Ricard today, their first win in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup since 2014. The #8 Bentley Continental GT3 of Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet and Vincent Abril crossed the finish line first to take the coveted win after six straight hours of racing that went into the night.

Second place went to the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 of Victor Shaitar, Miguel Molina and Davide Rigon while Audi Sport Team WRT made it three different manufacturers on the podium by finishing third in the #1 Audi R8 LMS of Antonio Garcia, Nico Müller and Rene Rast.

The first hour experienced two safety car interventions allowing a variation of strategies from the teams with most opting to make early stops. In the end, Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW and Bentley all held the lead at one point or another. The #99 BMW M6 GT3 from Rowe Racing had been leading the race after 3 hours but suffered a technical problem which ultimately dropped them down the order.

The #50 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 also fell out of contention for a podium win towards the end of the race. So did the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3. Leaving the Bentley and the SMP Ferrari to fight till chequered flag.

In the Pro-AM Cup, the #77 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Adrian Amstutz, Martin Kodric and Patrick Kujala emerged first in class, P2 went to the #97 Oman Racing Aston Martin V12 GT3 of Ahmad Al Harthy, Salih Yoluc and Jonny Adam. Third in this class went to the #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jean-Luc Beaubelique, Nico Bastian and Jules Gounon.

GTspirit endorsed driver David Perel alongside Jacques Duyver and Marco Zanuttini won the AM Cup in the #888 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Walkenhorst Motorsport came home second in the #36 BMW M6 GT3 ahead of third placed #488 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.

Next up is the 24 Hours of Spa, beginning with testing on July 4 followed by the main race on July 27.

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