Muscat: Blancpain Endurance Cup racer Ahmad al Harthy helped secure Oman Racing’s best result of the 2018 season during the annual six-hour ‘into the night’ race at Paul Ricard in France on Saturday, 2nd June, with a very competitive run to fourth place in the Silver Cup.
For much of the 1,000 km encounter at the Le Castellet track, Muscat racing driver Al Harthy and team-mates Euan McKay and Charlie Eastwood were in the reckoning for a maiden Silver Cup podium before eventually going on to secure a strong top four result.
Qualifying fifth on the grid for the third race of the season, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 trio performed extremely competitively in the big race — which acts as a natural pre-cursor to the huge Total 24 Hours of Spa in July — and only a Safety Car period late on cost the chance of a podium.
“I had a really, really good first hour and passed so many cars, but also stayed out of trouble to prepare us for the six hours in a strong position”, said Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Oman Air, National Bank of Oman, Omantel, Barr Al Jissah and Amouage backed racer Al Harthy.
“Euan, Charlie and I all drove a very strong race, it’s just unfortunate where we caught the Safety Car.
“At the same time, finishing in fourth is a very respectable position. It’s true we just missed the podium, but we’re focusing on this good result and our strengths.
It’s so important to finish the six hours in a strong position, making sure the car came home, and this is such good preparation for us going forward to Spa. It’s been a very solid performance, we look forward to what’s next,’’ he added.
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