1-2 finish for Corvette at Ricard

Series regulars GLPK Carsport took the win in their C6.R, driven by Mike Hezemans, Bert Longin and Anthony Kumpen, while pole-sitters PSI Experience followed them home after a race-long battle.

The French car, driven by Jos Menten and Jean-Phillippe Beloc, was taking part in only its second FIA GT round.

"It's very nice to win - especially because we started 40 kilos too heavy [with success ballast]," said Hezemans. "I had a nice battle with Jos [Menten] a few times on the straight."

His teammate Anthony Kumpen added: "The 40 kilo of ballast was really a problem, the brakes were very spongy. It was really tough and I pushed to the limit."

The Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12 of Thomas Biagi and Jamie Davies finished third, having started from the pitlane after a collision with a GT2 Ferrari on the way to line up on the grid.

It could have been in contention for victory, having qualified second, but was almost a minute and a half down on the leader by the end of the race.

The RaceAlliance Aston Martin came home in fourth position, having enjoyed a close fight with the similar DBR9 of Fabio Babini and Fabrizio Gollin, who were racing for the BMS Scuderia Italia team.

They finished fifth ahead of the Phoenix Racing Aston driven by Jean-Denis Deletraz and Andrea Piccini.

There was also a 1-2 finish in the GT2 class, Scuderia Ecosse doing the double with their pair of Ferrari 430s, Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy leading home teammates Tim Mullen and Marino Franchitti.