Muscat: Ahmad Al Harthy wrapped-up the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season with a richly deserved return to the Bronze Cup podium on Saturday, 17th October, after a fantastic performance at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
Competing at the Portuguese track for the first time since 2023, the Omani was quick throughout practice, qualifying and the race itself and along with team-mates Javier Sagrera and Calan Williams he was delighted to celebrate Oman Racing by Century Motorsport’s second podium of the season.
Starting at 17.00 local time, the three-hour race concluded under night skies at the Portimão track and with one of the largest crowds of the GTWCE Endurance Cup season. The very strong third place result for the No.42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO trio also ensured ninth in the Bronze Cup championship, just a single point shy of the top eight.
Highly competitive end to GTWCE campaign for Al Harthy
The Oman Racing by Century Motorsport team-mates produced a fantastic collective performance across the three qualifying sessions on Friday evening, 16th October, to match their best showing of the season with the fourth fastest time on average.
Sagrera took the opening session and delivered a best time of 1m43.358 seconds to end the run fourth fastest in the Bronze Cup. Al Harthy took over the BMW M4 for session two and posted a very impressive best of 1m43.545s, and in session three Williams lapped with a time of 1m42.483s. On average times across the three outings, the squad ended with an aggregate time of 1m43.128s.
Al Harthy took the start of Saturday’s race and with a combined grid of 61 cars, surviving the opening lap would be the first priority for the OQ, Omantel, Oman LNG, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and BMW Oman supported driver. Ending a very busy first lap sixth in Bronze, the Omani was shuffled back another couple of places on the second tour but was very determined to hit back.
Running tight behind the No.91 Porsche, just a tenth of a second shy over the line into lap six, Al Harthy swiftly made his move to take seventh and immediately closed on the No.74 Ferrari before smartly passing for sixth the next time around. Once again, the Omani instantly latched on to his next target, the No.11 Aston Martin, while pulling well clear of the pack behind.
Almost 20 minutes into the contest the first Full Course Yellow period of the race was required due to a car off circuit, but the cautionary period didn’t last more than a few minutes and racing quickly resumed. Then came news of an unfortunate 10 second penalty for the Oman Racing car linked to an on-track incident, but Al Harthy maintained his composure and duly took fifth from the Aston.
At the 35-minute mark the second in class Porsche spun off track after contact with another car, and so Al Harthy moved back inside the Bronze top four as a result. During the latter part of hour one the Omani was edged back to fifth, but he was fourth again when pitting 65 minutes into the race.
Sagrera took over the car for hour two as the sun began to set over Portimão and the temperature dropped, with the No.42 BMW M4 still fourth in Bronze. Soon after, another FCY period was called and racing resumed with an hour and three quarters to run, but 20 minutes further into the race a two-car collision led to a third FCY period and Safety Car.
Action got back underway with 70 minutes left and as the race entered its final hour Sagrera was within half a second of the Bronze podium, and swarming all over the No.87 Mercedes. Taking third place a few laps later, a penalty for the class leading No.991 BMW M4 then meant Sagrera moved up into second in Bronze before pitting with 48 minutes to run.
Williams climbed into the No.42 BMW for the final three quarters of an hour and when the order settled he was third in Bronze and 25 seconds clear of his closest class rival. Another FCY period occurred with just over half an hour to go, and following the subsequent Safety Car there were just 23 minutes left. Williams held third comfortably to the finish, ensuring much deserved silverware.
Ahmad Al Harthy said: “It’s an amazing feeling to be back on the podium, at one of the hardest tracks we have ever raced on and I think the busiest ever for Portimão. In qualifying I think I had driven one of my best laps of the season and it was great to have the car in P4. The race was very complicated, very tough, but we managed to really produce a great result for the team.
“It’s always a proud moment to see the Omani flag on the podium, I want to say huge thanks to my team-mates and everybody at Oman Racing by Century Motorsport. Most importantly I want to thank all of the incredible partners who have supported us, this result is for them and is a nice way to start building for next year – we keep pushing!”