Bentley broke its winless run in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup with a comprehensive victory at the Paul Ricard 1000km
Vincent Abril, Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet outlasted the pole-sitting Mercedes AMG-GT3 which encountered a technical problem in the final hour to claim the brand's first series win since 2014.
Returning to the site of its previous endurance triumph three years ago, the M-Sport Bentley squad survived an early scare which saw its No. 7 Guy Smith/Steven Kane/Oliver Jarvis car retire following an oil pressure issue.
That reduced the team's effort to one entry, although the No. 8 Continental GT3 managed to resist the challenges from rival manufacturers to win by a margin of 30 seconds and take the lead in the BGTS Endurance Cup standings.
The Black Falcon-entered Mercedes was the Bentley's main rival until the final stint when Luca Stolz ground to a halt in the pit lane with a faulty gearbox.
A quick turnaround from the No. 4 car's crew brought Stolz back out on track, but the German driver was only able to salvage 33rd position with team-mates Adam Christodoulou and Yelmer Buurman.
Buurman, who took pole earlier on Saturday, led the opening stint from Victor Shaitar in the SMP Racing Ferrari 488 and the short-lived No. 7 Bentley.
The Black Falcon team rode a pair of safety car periods during the opening hour – one for a dramatic spin for Thomas Enge who lost control of his Lamborghini Gallardo on the back straight – and stayed in contention for the rest of the six-hour event.
Bentley and Black Falcon exchanged the lead repeatedly during the pits cycles as the two crews diverged onto alternate strategies.
That lasted until the Mercedes encountered its race-changing issue following the final round of pit calls, to surrender second place to the SMP squad featuring Shaitar, Migual Molina and Davide Rigon.
Completing the podium was the WRT Audi driven by Rene Rast, Nico Muller and Antonio Garcia, which finished 50 seconds off the winner.
Renger van der Zande crossed the line a further three and a half seconds adrift in the #88 AKKA-ASP Racing Mercedes, ahead of Alex Buncombe in the best of the RJN-entered Nissan GT-Rs.
Bentley now leads the BGTS Endurance Cup table by two points, following a difficult race for the No. 63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini, which arrived with a 17-point advantage.
Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Christian Engelhart never had the pace to match the front-runners, and instead settled for 13th place.
Likewise, the No. 84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes which arrived in France second in the standings struggled tor regain its early-season form, with Maximilian Buhk, Jimmy Eriksson and Franck Perera classifying in 40th following an engine failure.
Pro-Am class honours at Paul Ricard went to the #77 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3, whilst the Am trophy was won by the #888 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.
The next round of the BGTS Endurance Cup is the 24 Hours of Spa, which takes place on July 29-30th.
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