Polesitter Oliver Turvey's engine broke on the warm-up lap and he stranded on the line as the lights went out at the start. That left Marcus Ericsson and Sam Abay to contest the lead on the run down to La Source, but Abay braked too late on the inside and slid into the side of Ericsson, forcing both wide and letting Perez and Nick Tandy through.
Tandy slipstreamed Perez and took the lead into Eau Rouge, but Perez took it straight back on the run up to Les Combes.
Perez then built himself a lead in the early laps, ahead of Tandy, Jaime Alguersuari, Ericsson, and Hartley.
But it was Hartley who emerged as the driver with the greater pace and picked his rivals off one by one. He ducked inside Ericsson into Les Combes on lap two, passed Alguersuari two laps later for third, and set about taking second from Tandy.
He was made to work a bit harder for that and Tandy's defense of his line at the end of the straights was immaculate. After a few laps of trying, Hartley made a move stick around the outside into Les Combes.
By this time Perez was nearly three seconds ahead, but Hartley charged up to the back of the T-Sport car and made the decisive move on the final lap.
He had a good run out of Eau Rouge and when Perez moved right to cover the inside, Hartley used the slipstream to slingshot up the outside. He was still behind as they approached, but he braked later and held on round the outside to seal the place.
Tandy held Alguersuari off to score his and the JTR team's first podium, with Ericsson fifth and guest driver Daniel Campos-Hull completing the top six for HBR Motorsport.
Jay Bridger also pulled off a last lap pass to earn the victory in the National Class, pinching the place back from Steven Guerrero who had taken it from him earlier in the race.
Results to follow
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