Monday 29 / September / 2025
Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde charged to a strong top four result at the 6 Hours of Fuji, Sunday, 28th September, to secure a good haul of points from the penultimate event of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Taking the chequered flag at the renowned Japanese track less than four seconds shy of the podium, the performance from 11th on the grid was a pleasing one with the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 showing well in race trim, and the three team-mates each performing impressively.
Oman’s Al Harthy began the race from the sixth row of the class grid, having only just missed out on the Hyperpole top 10 shoot-out by the smallest of margins. Quick as always straight out of the box, he made excellent progress during the early going after swiftly breaking into the top 10.
Then climbing into the top eight with around 15 minutes elapsed, Al Harthy delivered strong pace and faultless driving. Continuing to make gains, the OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman backed driver made his way through the order and sliced through to an incredible second place.
Keeping the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 firmly in the lead battle in the second hour after the initial round of pit-stops, Al Harthy made a podium finish a realistic prospect as he continued to perform impressively, before handing the car over to Rossi for the middle double stint.
Running just as well during his first hour behind the wheel, the Italian remained part of the podium fight as the halfway point of the race neared. Unfortunately, some Safety Car periods didn’t work in the team’s favour and so the squad had to work very hard to minimise that impact.
With two hours to run van der Linde climbed aboard the BMW and with that round of pit-stops still playing out, the South African was outside the top 10 initially. Working his way back into the top four, with 90 minutes to go the close battle over the podium continued.
Finding himself back down the order after the next stop, van der Linde marched back through to third with 45 minutes remaining and he then sliced his way through to the lead of LMGT3. His final stop then came with only half an hour left on the clock, dropping the team off the podium.
Re-emerging onto track in seventh, van der Linde had a lot of work to do and with 25 minutes to go he was just over 10 seconds shy of the top three. Fifth into the final 10 minutes, the podium was too far out of reach and van der Linde also had to fight to keep the ever-present No.92 Porsche 911 at bay. He did take fourth on the on the penultimate lap though, to cap a very strong performance.
Ahmad Al Harthy:
“I was really, really happy with the performance and the car to go from P11 and to keep climbing all the way to P2. For my stint, I really felt that was one of my best races in WEC for 2025 and very happy that everything was working out for us at that point. Vale came into the car, but with Safety Cars coming at the wrong time for us we had to pick our way up again with how things evolved.
“In terms of the last half an hour, at one point we were fighting for P1, P2, P3, P4 but the eventual finish of P4 from Kelvin was the best we could do from our strategy. Fourth place is a very solid result and I’m happy for that. I also want to thank His Excellency Mohammed Said Al Busaidi, the Omani Ambassador to Japan, for coming to the race and for all of the support we had here. It means a lot to see so many people from Oman in Japan, watching a race that unfolded in that manner. We’re now looking forward to the final race of the season in Bahrain.”
Round eight of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, will take place on Friday, 7th November, and Saturday, 8th November.
6 Hours of Fuji LMGT3 Race Result:
1st Tom van Rompuy / Rui Andrade / Charlie Eastwood (TF Sport / Corvette Z06)
2nd Francois Heriau / Simon Mann / Alessio Rovera (Vista AF Course / Ferrari 296)
3rd Yasser Shahin / Timur Boguslavskiy / Augusto Farfus (The Bend Team WRT / BMW M4)
4th Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde (Team WRT / BMW M4)
2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Driver Standings (after Rd7):
1st Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz / Ryan Hardwick, 105pts
2nd Alessio Rovera / Francois Heriau / Simon Mann, 94pts
3rd Charlie Eastwood / Rui Andrade / Tom van Rompuy, 81pts
8th Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde, 52pts
2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Team Standings (after Rd7):
1st Manthey 1st Phorm (Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3), 105pts
2nd Vista AF Corse (Ferrari 296 LMGT3), 94pts
3rd TF Sport (Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R), 81pts
8th Team WRT (BMW M4 LMGT3), 52pts
