MUSCAT: Omani sports star Ahmad Al Harthy has officially launched his biggest ever season of racing – a dream, headline-grabbing move to Team WRT and BMW for a dual programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Marking a huge development in Al Harthy’s glittering motorsport career, the Sultanate’s number one racing driver officially revealed his exciting new global challenge on Sunday evening at BMW Oman in Muscat, where he was joined by key partners, sponsors, dignitaries, media, family and friends.
For his second season in the globe’s premier endurance racing category, the FIA World Endurance Championship, Al Harthy joins the prestigious new WRT and BMW partnership in the No.46 BMW M4 GT3 car of worldwide sporting icon Valentino Rossi and pro BMW factory driver Maxime Martin.
Italian legend Rossi, of course, needs no introduction as a seven-time Moto GP World Champion and a nine-time World Champion in total – including his 250cc and 125cc crowns. Martin is one of the most respected drivers in modern endurance racing, a former winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
As part of Sunday's launch, invited guests were able to see the BMW M4 GT3 car Al Harthy will race in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. Run by Team WRT under the OQ by Oman Racing banner, the Omani will be joined in the No.30 Bronze class entry by Sam De Haan and BMW factory driver Jens Klingmann.
For his packed 2024 motor racing season in FIA WEC and GTWCE, Al Harthy enjoys the support of an incredibly prestigious line-up of key partners – OQ, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Omantel, Experience Oman and BMW Oman.
Ahmad Al Harthy:
“This is an extremely proud moment for us, unveiling our collaboration with Team WRT and BMW in both programmes and announcing the incredible portfolio of partners who are making such a dream season possible. It is a huge time in my career, all of the success of previous years has allowed us to be in the position to be part of this unbelievably exciting new partnership.
“To be competing in the new LMGT3 class in FIA WEC with Maxime and the legend that is Valentino Rossi – someone I watched on TV in MotoGP in Oman – is quite incredible, truly a dream come true. Of course, it is a huge bonus to be able to learn from such amazing and talented drivers, continue our learning curve, and the two programmes in WEC and GTWCE will help each other.
“It’s fantastic to be racing with Sam again in GTWCE in our OQ by Oman Racing car and I’m looking forward to working with Jens for the first time as well. None of this would be possible without our incredible partners, and having the Oman Ministry of Culture Sports and Youth on-board with our programme again is wonderful news. We are proud promotors of Oman and it is an honour to have the support of the Ministry once again as we embark on our new challenge with BMW.”
Biggest ever season of racing for Oman’s Al Harthy on world stage
The new FIA World Endurance Championship season will be Al Harthy’s second year in the globe’s biggest endurance racing category, comprising eight race meetings – including two in the Middle East. Following the official prologue in Qatar at the end of February, the first round will take place in Losail on 2nd March while the final race of the campaign will be in Bahrain on 2nd November.
Including visits to Imola in Italy, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Interlagos in Brazil, the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, USA, and Fuji in Japan, the blue riband race of the WEC season will, of course, be June’s Le Mans 24 Hours in France.
Al Harthy’s GT World Challenge commitments begin with the prologue test in early March at Paul Ricard in France, the venue for round one of the five-event calendar in April. From there, the series will visit Spa in May for official testing ahead of the annual 24 Hours of Spa. Germany’s Nurburgring and Monza in Italy follow, ahead of the season finale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in November.
2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar
24/25 February: Prologue Test – Losail, Qatar
1/2 March: Rd1 – Losail, Qatar
20/21 April: Rd2 – Imola, Italy
10/11 May: Rd3 – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
15/16 June: Rd4 – Le Mans, France (Le Mans 24hrs)
13/14 July: Rd5 – Interlagos, Brazil
31 August/1 September: Rd6 – Texas, USA
14/15 September: Rd7 – Fuji, Japan
1/2 November: Rd8 – Sakhir, Bahrain
2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup Calendar
5/6 March: Prologue Test – Paul Ricard, France
6/7 April: Rd1 – Paul Ricard, France
21/22 May: Prologue Test – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
26-30 June: Rd2 – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgum (Spa 24hrs)
27/28 July: Rd3 – Nurburgring, Germany
21/22 September: Rd4 – Monza, Italy
22/23 November: Rd5 – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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