Friday 20 / September / 2024
Muscat: Oman’s number one racing driver Ahmad Al Harthy was elated to achieve his aim of reaching the chequered flag during the biggest race of the Blancpain Endurance Cup season, the Total 24 Hours of Spa, in Belgium on Sunday – finishing seventh in Pro-Am.
Marking the Omani’s fourth attempt at the endurance racing classic, round four of the Blancpain season, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 driver and teammates Darren Turner, Jonny Adam and Devon Modell produced exemplary performances throughout the event.
Only just missing out on the final Superpole qualifying session for the fastest 20 cars from the near 70 car entry, the Oman Racing Team powered by Motorbase went on to lead the Pro-Am class at several junctures during the rain-affected 24 Hour contest and, at one point, led the race outright.
Frustratingly for the squad, contact from another car on Saturday night resulted in a visit to the pits and the team subsequently lost a big chunk of time when an oil leak required urgent attention. In the end, all four drivers did a sterling job to overcome the significant loss of time and surge back into seventh place in Pro-Am.
As a result of leading Pro-Am at the six-hour mark and also being in key points scoring positions at the midway point and the finish, Blancpain Endurance Cup regulars Ahmad, Adam and Modell have climbed into third in the standings. The Oman Racing Team is fourth in the entrant battle.
“It’s a very proud moment for me personally, and the Oman Racing Team, to finish the 24 Hour -- it’s the longest race of the year and I’m very proud to have achieved something new,” said Ahmad.
“It’s my fourth attempt at the race and getting to the finish is such a fantastic result, we achieved everything we wanted to.
“We’re all physically and mentally tired after such a big challenge, but nobody in the team put a foot wrong. The guys in the pits did an amazing job, every one of our stops went extremely well and they did an incredible job to repair the oil leak and get us back into the race as quickly as possible. Jonny, Darren and Devon all raced really well, it really has been an amazing team effort.”
The 34-year-old added: “The only thing that stopped us finishing on the podium was the oil leak, we think it came as a result of some contact which is disappointing but one of those things. It was so important to show our ability and pace, and we did that. We actually led the race overall at one point, and led Pro-Am several times, which was incredible. It really has been a fantastic experience.”
Packed with action and incident throughout the 24 hours, high drama was saved for the final half hour on Sunday afternoon when a torrential downpour resulted in a number of drivers encountering problems. Adam, who piloted the No.44 Aston Martin to the chequered flag in the final stint, had no such trouble and guided the car to a memorable finish.
For the Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Oman Air, National Bank of Oman (NBO), Barr Al Jissah and Omantel supported squad, the Scotsman actually started the race and from eighth in Pro-Am, 24th position overall, he made excellent progress in the first hour to move up to the top four in class.
Turner took over driving duties for the second hour and around 30 minutes into his stint the first full Safety Car period of the race was triggered, following a hefty two-car collision at Raidillon. In the end, three full Safety Car periods and no fewer than 15 ‘Full Course Yellow’ cautionary periods were required across the 24 hour duration.
Ahmad’s first run came in hour three, the Aston Martin Middle East and North Africa ambassador taking over the car in 11th place in class and by the end of his first stint he had climbed into the Pro-Am lead, and the overall top three.
Everything looked set for a sensational result for the Oman Racing Team and at the six-hour mark, the first of three points scoring segments of the race, the squad led Pro-Am. Just a short while later, though, the Aston had to be wheeled into its garage in the pits with the oil leak from the manifold.
Unfortunately spoiling the team’s hopes of podium success, some fantastic driving through the night and on Sunday morning by all four competitors pulled the squad back into contention for a strong class finish.
Next on the Blancpain Endurance Cup calendar is the final race of the season at the Nurburgring in Germany over the weekend September 17 and 18.
Blancpain Endurance Cup Rd4 Total 24 Hours of Spa results:
1. Rowe Racing – BMW F13 M6 GT3 (Alexander Sims/Philipp Eng/Maxime Martin)
2. Team AKKA ASP – Mercedes AMG GT3 (Tristan Vautier/Felix Rosenqvist/Renger van der Zande)
3. Audi Sport Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS (Laurens Vanthoor/Rene Rast/Nico Muller)
24. Oman Racing Team – Aston Martin V12 GT3 (Ahmad Al Harthy/Jonny Adam/Devon Modell/Darren Turner)
Blancpain Endurance Cup Rd4 Total 24 Hours of Spa Pro-Am results:
1. IMSA Performance – Porsche 911 GT3 (Patrick Pilet/Maxime Jousse/Raymond Narac/Thierry Comac)
2. ISR – Audi R8 LMS (Franck Perera/Nicolas Lapierre/Henry Hassid/Philippe Giauque)
3. Barwell Motorsport – Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (Jon Minshaw/Phil Keen/Oliver Gavin/Joe Osborne)
7. Oman Racing Team – Aston Martin V12 GT3 (Ahmad Al Harthy/Jonny Adam/Devon Modell/Darren Turner)
2016 Blancpain Endurance Cup Pro-Am Driver Standings (after Rd4): 3. Ahmad Al Harthy/Jonny Adam/Devon Modell, 50 pts.
2016 Blancpain Endurance Cup Pro-Am Team Standings (after Rd4): 4. Oman Racing Team powered by Motorbase, 50 pts.
