Ahmad Al Harthy positive despite retirement at Spa

MUSCAT: Despite a contact that badly damaged the car and forced an early retirement from FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, Oman’s LMGT3 class racer Ahmad Al Harthy remained positive after the disappointment.

Carrying high hopes into race three of the 2024 season, after qualifying a season-best second on the LMGT3 grid in the No.46 BMW M4 GT3, the Omani stayed in the podium battle during the first hour of racing in Belgium on Saturday and looked well placed to challenge for a podium finish.

Holding fourth position after the first round of pit-stops, Al Harthy settled into the race again ahead of stints for teammates Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin.

The Omani firmly stuck to the plan while also remaining competitive in the top four of LMGT3. Roughly halfway through the second hour of action, though, he was powerless to prevent his retirement.

As he approached Fagnes, Al Harthy’s involvement in the encounter ended prematurely after the BMW was hit by the No.38 Team JOTA Porsche 963 Hypercar – a consequence of contact between the Porsche and another of the Hypercars.

Al Harthy was devastated to post the entry’s first non-finish of the FIA WEC season but remained positive having exceeded expectations in qualifying and knowing a strong result was allbut assured.

Despite this weekend’s non-finish, the No.46 trio remain fourth in the LMGT3 points standings. The OQ, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Omantel and BMW Oman supported Al Harthy and is now ready to hit back strongly at the next event – the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Speaking after the retirement, Al Harthy said: “I’m obviously disappointed not to finish the race. We started the race in a strong position. We knew we had to save the tyres for the two hours during my stint.

“We were holding our position in the top four or five, and that was a good place to be with our strategy for the remainder of the race.

“We were running our own race and unfortunately, when I had about nine laps to go before the second pit-stop, two Hypercars made contact and that resulted in them ending our race – there was nothing I could do to avoid it.

“This is racing, things like this happen, and with our experience we know how to get back and be stronger for the next round.

“There were huge positives from this weekend, we out-performed ourselves in qualifying which was great, and now we look forward to the next round at Le Mans. I also want to thank our sponsors from OQ and Oman’s Ambassador to Belgium, Rua Issa Ashraf Alzadjali ,for attending the race.”

The next race in the FIA World Endurance Championship of the 2024 calendar is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The event will run from June 12-15.

FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 Driver Standings (after round three)”

1. Aliaksander Malykhin / Joel Sturm / Klaus Bachler, 72pts

2. Augusto Farfus / Darren Leung / Sean Gelael, 37pts

3. Alex Riberas / Daniel Mancinelli / Ian James, 37pts

4. Ahmad Al Harthy / Maxime Martin / Valentino Rossi, 36pts

5. Clement Mateu / Erwan Bastard / Marco Sorenson, 30pts