The Algarve Pro Racing-run G-Drive car, an Aurus-badged Oreca 07-Gibson, beat reigning champion United Autosports and dominant series leader Team WRT in the third race of the season after four hours of racing.
At the start, Yifei Ye took the lead in the WRT Oreca that had won the previous two races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Red Bull Ring, and proceeded to build up a substantial gap over pole starter Rusinov throughout the opening stint.
But a full course yellow just around the first pit window and a safety car at the halfway mark wiped out the championship-leading team’s advantage and it was further hampered by a penalty handed to Ye for beaching in breach of the rolling start procedure.
As the race settled down, the #32 United Oreca came to the fore, albeit under pressure from G-Drive.
United driver Job van Uitert, sharing with Manuel Maldonado and Nico Jamin, was hunted down by fellow Dutchman de Vries and then forced to surrender the lead with an hour left to go.
Mercedes Formula E ace De Vries then remained faultless throughout the final stint as United driver Tom Gamble in the #22 car he shared with Phil Hanson and Jonathan Aberdein passed teammate Van Uitert just before the final round of pitstops.
De Vries crossed the line to win by 6.38s from the #22 and #32 United Autosport cars, while the Duqueine Oreca of Tristan Gommendy, Rene Binder and Memo Rojas pushed Ye, Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica down to fifth at the flag.
The LMP3 class looked affected most by the on-track incidents as the field was immediately split on strategy, with some teams electing to pit early under yellow and others waiting it out. It soon became apparent however that strategy was not going to be enough to beat DKR Engineering at Paul Ricard.
The pole-sitting Duqueine machine was simply too quick in the hands of Laurents Horr and bronze-rated driver Jean-Philippe Dayraut, with the pair finishing well clear of championship leaders Nicolas Maulini, Matthew Bell and Niklas Krutten (Cool Racing) and reigning champions United Autosports’ lead entry of Wayne Boyd, Rob Wheldon and Edouard Cauhaupe.
Meanwhile in GTE, the Iron Lynx Ferrari team was able to celebrate victory as Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina took their second win and solidified their grip on the championship.
Ollie Hancock dominated the opening proceedings in his pole-sitting TF Sport Aston Martin before his lead was virtually wiped out by the safety car, diminishing the chance of a victory against the Porsches and Ferraris.
The most notable incident came when Manuela Gostner’s Iron Lynx Ferrari was spun by Hollywood actor Michael Fassbender's Proton Porsche mid-way through the second stint, taking both cars out of contention for victory.
Results
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Aurus 01 | ||
| 2 | 22 | Oreca 07 | 6.385 | |
| 3 | 32 | Oreca 07 | 24.272 | |
| 4 | 30 | Oreca 07 | 43.171 | |
| 5 | 41 | Oreca 07 | 51.000 | |
| 6 | 34 | Oreca 07 | 54.767 | |
| 7 | 24 | Oreca 07 | 1'24.841 | |
| 8 | 65 | Oreca 07 | 1 Lap | |
| 9 | 28 | Oreca 07 | 1 Lap | |
| 10 | 25 | Aurus 01 | 1 Lap | |
| 11 | 35 | Oreca 07 | 1 Lap | |
| 12 | 37 | Oreca 07 | 1 Lap | |
| 13 | 29 | Oreca 07 | 2 Laps | |
| 14 | 39 |  Vincent Capillaire Maxime Robin Arnold Robin | Oreca 07 | 2 Laps |
| 15 | 17 | Oreca 07 | 4 Laps | |
| 16 | 4 | Duqueine M30 - D08 | 7 Laps | |
| 17 | 19 | Nicolas Maulini  Matthew Bell Niklas Kruetten | Ligier JS P320 | 7 Laps |
| 18 | 2 | Wayne Boyd Robert Wheldon Edouard Cauhaupe | Ligier JS P320 | 7 Laps |
| 19 | 15 | Mike Benham Alex Kapadia Malthe Jakobsen | Ligier JS P320 | 8 Laps |
| 20 | 7 | Ligier JS P320 | 8 Laps | |
| 21 | 14 |  Gustas Grinbergas Mateusz Kaprzyk  Mattia Pasini | Ligier JS P320 | 8 Laps |
| 22 | 8 | Eric Trouillet Sebastien Page  David Droux | Ligier JS P320 | 8 Laps |
| 23 | 12 | David Hauser Gary Hauser Tom Cloet | Duqueine M30 - D08 | 8 Laps |
| 24 | 9 | Ligier JS P320 | 8 Laps | |
| 25 | 84 | Oreca 07 | 9 Laps | |
| 26 | 11 | Andrea Dromedari Joey Alders | Ligier JS P320 | 9 Laps |
| 27 | 80 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | 9 Laps | |
| 28 | 5 | Cresp Christophe Fabien Lavergne Adrien Chila | Ligier JS P320 | 9 Laps |
| 29 | 55 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | 9 Laps | |
| 30 | 6 | Ligier JS P320 | 9 Laps | |
| 31 | 88 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | 9 Laps | |
| 32 | 77 | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | 9 Laps | |
| 33 | 60 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | 9 Laps | |
| 34 | 66 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | 11 Laps | |
| 35 | 95 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | 11 Laps | |
| 36 | 3 | James McGuire Duncan Tappy Andrew Bentley | Ligier JS P320 | 13 Laps |
| 37 | 93 | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | 30 Laps | |
| 20 |  Rob Hodes  Garett Grist Charles Crews | Ligier JS P320 | 32 Laps | |
| 83 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | 85 Laps | ||
| 13 |  Martin Hippe Ugo De Ulysse De | Ligier JS P320 | 98 Laps | |
| 18 | Alessandro Bressan  Andreas Laskaratos Damiano Fioravanti | Ligier JS P320 | 106 Laps | |
| View full results | ||||
