Oman Racing’s Ahmad Al Harthy looking forward to 24hr challenge
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Blancpain Endurance Cup star Ahmad Al Harthy and the Oman Racing team will begin this year’s Total 24 Hours of Spa from seventh on the grid in the Silver Cup class...but the squad’s sights are set much higher for the big race.
During four separate qualifying sessions at the Belgian track, Al Harthy, Euan McKay, Charlie Eastwood and Ross Gunn couldn’t quite extract the ultimate time they had hoped for, but they all remain positive for race day. That wasn’t the full story of qualifying either as Al Harthy was caughtup in an incident late in the opening session, when a rival chopped across the front of his car as the Omani was on his cooling-down lap and away from the racing line.
Fortunately, the mechanics made the required repairs to the damage inflicted to the car before session two and the remainder of the evening’s track time, which also included a night practice, ran smoothly. “Qualifying is qualifying, but it’s always the race which is the most important part in Blancpain Endurance Cup – and especially the 24 hour”, said Al Harthy, “We’re all really looking forward to the race, there has been a lot to analyse after qualifying but everyone is confident about the race.”
Following the annual pre-event parade of race cars into Spa town, serious track action got underway with practice in the morning followed later in the afternoon by pre-qualifying, where Oman Racing was fourth in the Silver Cup.
“Spa is such a unique challenge, it’s an incredible track and we’re all focused on producing the best performance we can for the full 24 hours”, said Al Harthy, “The team has been working very hard to make sure the car is where we need it, and to ensure we have reliability and consistency which are the two biggest things you need in a 24 hour. Hopefully we can have a strong and competitive race.”