IMOLA: Italy becomes the latest stop on Ahmad al Harthy’s global sporting tour of 2024 this week, with the second round of the ultra-competitive FIA World Endurance Championship taking place on Sunday, 21st April – the 6 Hours of Imola.
Following hot on the heels of the opening event of his dovetailed programme in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup just over a week ago at Paul Ricard in the south of France, Al Harthy now turns attention back to FIA WEC with the No 46 Team WRT squad.
Reuniting with star team-mates Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin for the second event of the World Endurance season, the trio are determined to mount a challenge for their maiden podium in the LMGT3 class after finishing fourth during the championship-opener in Qatar last month.
Being the home event for sports icon Rossi, the buzz around the Team WRT garage is set to be even more electrifying than usual with the Italian race fans. Al Harthy, supported by partners OQ, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Omantel and BMW Oman, is incredibly excited to be part of that experience for the first time, and looking forward to being back on track in the WEC.
Unquestionably the biggest season of racing in his glittering GT and sportscar career, Al Harthy has seamlessly transitioned to be part of Team WRT and has adapted incredibly quickly to the BMW M4 he shares with Rossi and Martin.
At the first round in Qatar, the Omani brilliantly overcame an issue with the car in qualifying to move into his maiden Hyperpole shoot-out session with just a single flying lap. After then taking ninth on the grid in LMGT3 during Hyperpole, he embarked on his longest ever race stint – three full hours.
Carving his way into the podium placings, driving an excellent race, Al Harthy set things up perfectly for a potentially strong result with Rossi and Martin sharing the remainder of the contest. Ultimately ending the encounter in fourth position, the result was a good way to begin their championship bid.
Ahmad al Harthy:
“I’m very excited to be racing at Imola this weekend, and especially as team-mate to Vale with all of the Italian fans there – it’s going to be a very special experience. We made a good, solid start to the season in the 10-hour in Qatar. Our package wasn’t the fastest, so the team produced a strategy which was pretty aggressive which did enable us to get very close to finishing on the podium.
“Hopefully we will be even more competitive in Imola. My aim is, obviously, to qualify as strong as we possibly can but we know we need a car that is quick, consistent and very reliable for the race so there will be a lot of focus on achieving that during practice. As always, I’m hoping to deliver the best result I can for the team and also for my amazing partners and supporters in Oman.”
Opening practice at Imola for the second event of the FIA World Endurance Championship season will begin at 12.00 local time on April 19, with session two following at 17.15. On April 20, a third practice run will start at 11.10 local time with qualifying beginning at 14.45.
Raceday is April 21, with the 6 Hours of Imola getting underway at 13.00 local time. All of the action can be followed at www.fiawec.com
FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 Driver Standings (after Rd1)
4th Ahmad al Harthy / Maxime Martin / Valentino Rossi, 18pts
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