Oman Air Motorbase racer Ahmad Al Harthy maintained his 100% points scoring record in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship during round nine at Zandvoort on Sunday, 8th September, thanks to a hard-fought ninth place finish in the penultimate race of the campaign.
Brimming with confidence after taking his second British GT win with a sparkling performance in round eight on Saturday, 7th September, the Omani built on team-mate Michael Caine’s impressive opening stint in the weekend’s second encounter with a very competitive drive. Departing the Dutch track fourth in the title race, the pairing are just 10.5 points shy of the championship leaders.
“Everything was perfect with the car and we were highly motivated to score more points again after Saturday’s win”, said Ahmad, “This result puts us in a good position in the championship ahead of the final round next month, Oman Air Motorbase is the only team to have scored in every race so far this season which is a great feeling and shows the fantastic job the whole team is doing.”
Facing a very tough challenge to try and secure points after having to start round nine from 21st on the grid, a result of difficulties for Caine during the second qualifying session on Saturday, the Briton made a fantastic getaway and produced a superb opening lap to climb into 16th position.
Moving into 13th place on lap three, Caine then had to spend several laps bottled up behind a slower car but finally made the breakthrough on the eighth tour. He then made his way into 11th place prior to pitting for the driver-change at the end of lap 15.
Losing an additional 15 seconds in the pits, by way of a ‘success penalty’ applied to any team which has won the preceding race, Ahmad rejoined the track in 19th position and the Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Oman Ministry of Tourism, Nawras, National Bank of Oman and Muscat Eye Laser Center-backed driver certainly had his work cut out.
Into 16th place a couple of laps later, the 32-year-old began to reel off some impressively quick lap times. By lap 23, Ahmad had steered his Porsche into 11th position but with well over 10 seconds to make-up to the next car, a finish in the points-paying top 10 seemed unlikely.
With only four laps remaining, the Oman Air Motorbase driver had closed onto the tail of the 10th placed Audi R8 of Mark Patterson and duly climbed into the points on lap 30. Then, on the final tour, a problem for the Mercedes AMG SLS of Jason Minshaw enabled Ahmad to claim ninth place.
“To finish in the points from how far down we were on the grid, especially with the extra 15 seconds we had to stay in the pits, was a tough challenge but it shows the great job we all did again to have been able to come through so well”, said Ahmad, “Michael made a great start to the race and then it was up to me to push as hard as I could in my stint. It was tough, but a good finish to the weekend.”
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship will return to UK shores for the season finale at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend 5th/6th October. Before then, Ahmad will be back in action in the Blancpain Endurance Series a fortnight from now, on 21st/22nd September, for the final round of its season – a six-hour spectacular at the Nurburgring in Germany.
Provisional 2013 Avon Tyres British GT Championship Standings (after Rd9):4th Ahmad Al Harthy/Michael Caine, 97pts
Provisional 2013 Avon Tyres British GT Championship Team Standings (after Rd9):5th Oman Air Motorbase, 100pts
