RED-HOT IN IMOLA
Oman’s Al Harthy secures maiden FIA WEC podium with BMW and Team WRT
Oman - Ahmad al Harthy produced an outstanding performance during the opening two hours of the second race of the FIA World Endurance Championship season on Sunday to lay the foundations for an excellent runners-up finish in LMGT3 – the Omani’s deserved first podium of 2024.
Showcasing great pace throughout and driving a faultless first third of the 6 Hours of Imola, Al Harthy ensured the NO.46BMW M4 GT3 was squarely in the fight for a famous first victory of the year, and the squad’s challenge went all the way to the closing stages of the terrific action in Italy.
All set for a grandstand finish, teammate Maxime Martin battled the sister No.31 Team WRT car for supremacy during the final couple of hours with both BMWS staying on slick Goodyear tyres as rain showers arrived.
The great call to do so by Team WRT ensured a famous one-two result, an unfortunate drive-through penalty late on – linked to a Full Course Yellow period – meaning it was the No.46 trio who ended up in second place at the flag. Martin was little more than 20 seconds adrift of
the No.31 at the finish, having lost more than half a minute with the penalty.
“What an unbelievable race! Where can I begin? I had a perfect start to be honest, there was an incident into Turn One and I was in the right place so man
aged to move up from P3 to P2. We kept pushing for the entire one hour and 45 minutes in the car, we maximised everything we could to increase the distance between me and third, and try and keep first as close as possible,” said Al Harthy.
“What a job by the team, they made unbelievable calls. Valentino and Maxime both did amazing in the car, and obviously the pit-stops were smooth – and then the rain came down! We were the only LMGT3 cars to stay out on slicks throughout, it was a huge call by the team and it was the right call as well to take a BMW one-two and with us on the podium for the first time this season. Thank you so much to everyone for their incredible support, all of our sponsors, family and fans back home in Oman.”