Celebrations and the trophy of the Bathurst 12 Hour will go to Crewe, as Bentley Team M-SPORT did an outstanding job by going faultless all the time with the No. 7 Bentley Continental GT3 of Jules Gounon, Jordan Pepper and Maxime Soulet, starting the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli on a high note as the British team is focusing its attention in the globe-trotting series.
A bold move by Maxi Bühk in the No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes gave him a great start, even though he didn’t depart from pole or the front row, but a few laps and similar bravery were enough for Ben Barnicoat to put the No. 60 59Racing McLaren ahead.
Trouble quickly got around the competitors, and this is proven by the fire in the No. 20 GJ MARC II, and also by the heavy crashes of the No. 188 Garage 59 Aston Martin and the No. 22 Valvoline Audi. In between these episodes, the lead went back to the No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes, though as the No. 999 changed drivers, the No. 60 regained the lead, but with the eventual pit stop round, the No. 999 would go back to the top spots.
The No. 999 was keeping a solid lead around the fifth hour, but unfortunately it went along with the No. 911 Absolute Porsche to serve 15 second penalties for breaching pit stop procedure, which left the way open for the No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley to reclaim the lead again, though the No. 60 59Racing McLaren was just behind them in second.
Between penalties, strategy changes and lack of pace, most of the contenders were held up at the halfway point, and while still having the leading No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley locked on target, they couldn’t reach it.
The seventh hour saw a long Safety Car period as two cars stopped on track, with the No. 63 FFF Lamborghini crawling to the pits with a fuel pump issue, while the No. 30 JAS Honda stood still and needed to be towed.
The usual suspects were rounds of lead changes as their pit strategies varied, but a drive through hindered the progress of the No. 60 59Racing McLaren, while the No. 8 M-SPORT Bentley had a spin down the mountain, triggering another Safety Car intervention that kept the sister No. 7 Bentley on top.
The No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes was managing a good lead after a short stint of the No. 912 Absolute Porsche on top, but it was not like the No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley wasn’t targeting the German machine, being just a few meters away. The order inverted before the final hour, as the No. 999 got stuck behind traffic while the No. 7 made a smooth pit stop, and a puncture almost threw everything through the window.
The No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes opened the final hour in the lead, but with the final stop left in their account, it relinquished the top spot with 40 minutes to go, as the No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley finally regained its deserved position, keeping it safe as the No. 999 wasn’t around.
The final minutes were a drama storm as rain could come, but while waiting for it, the other problems already on track were a thing to deal with, as the No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley and the No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes had punctures, a situation that put the No. 60 59Racing McLaren in between them in second. Despite being massively slower in the final laps, the huge gap protected the victory of the No. 7 Bentley while only delivering a second place for the No. 999 Mercedes and a third for a beaten No. 60 McLaren.
Due to a pit procedure breach as the No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes’ engine was on while on service, they got a 30 second penalty just after the finish and went down to sixth, which promoted back to second the No. 60 and gave the third place to the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes.
The No. 59 59Racing McLaren won the A-Silver class with ease while achieving an eighth overall, while the No. 4 Grove Porsche had Ben Barker holding a massive lead to the A-Pro-Am win. The Invitational class had the No. 91 Scandia MARC II score the win along a mid-table finish overall, and the No. 13 RHC Jorgensen/Strom BMW got the GT4 class win.
Next IGTC race in the calendar will the most important one, the TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa on July 25th and 26th.
PHOTOS - Bentley Motorsport
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