MUSCAT: Oman Racing’s Ahmad al Harthy says he cannot wait for the official launch of his 2019 motor racing programme, which will take place within the next couple of weeks, off the back of a very successful and productive test at Paul Ricard in France. Having debuted the team’s brand new latest generation Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at the end of last year in the Gulf 12 Hours, where Al Harthy and British duo Jonny Adam and Darren Turner only just missed out on a podium as the lead Aston entry, Oman Racing is now eyeing a strong new season.
Working hard on the development of the car over the winter with TF Sport, the engineering strength behind Oman Racing, the squad recently travelled to Paul Ricard for an important two-day test run which proved to be an incredibly valuable and rewarding outing. With Al Harthy’s sponsorship portfolio very close to being finalised, and a prestigious season launch planned before the end of the month, the Muscat driver is very much looking forward to the eagerly awaited unveiling in Oman where his team-mates for the new GT3 season will also be confirmed.
“It’s been a long winter of planning with everyone, the team and our sponsors, to make sure we have everything in place to give Oman Racing the very best opportunity to fight as we want to this season”, said Al Harthy, “We’re almost there now and I can’t wait to be able to confirm our plans. “It was great to experience the new Aston Martin in Abu Dhabi back in December, where everyone did a fantastic job, but since then we’ve done a lot more technical work and we’re understanding the characteristics of the new car more and more. The two-day test we had at Paul Ricard was extremely successful, so we’re very excited for the launch of the season, our portfolio and the full line-up.”
Al Harthy, of course, has become firmly established as a very successful Blancpain Endurance Cup driver in recent seasons with Oman Racing and Aston Martin and has become faster and more competitive with each passing year. After the history-making Pro-Am title victory in 2017, which ensured he entered the record books as the first driver of Arab origin to win a championship in Blancpain, last year was another ‘learning season’ in the ranks of the blue riband Pro class where he again made notable progress.
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