Aston Martin Middle East and North Africa ambassador Ahmad Al Harthy says he is quietly confident the Oman Racing Team will be able to challenge for its best result of the Blancpain Endurance Series campaign at Paul Ricard HTTT in France later today, Saturday, 20th June, after preparing strongly for the six-hour third round of the season.
Although the Omani squad did lose vital track time during the opening practice on Friday, 19th June, after encountering some mechanical problems with its No.44 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, in the subsequent pre-qualifying session good steps were made with both speed and handling.
With a best lap of 1m59.778 seconds in the first track session, the Oman Racing Team car lapped with similar pace in pre-qualifying although Ahmad and team-mates Jonny Adam and Daniel Lloyd focused on set-up work for final qualifying and the race, rather than outright practice performance.
“We had some mechanical issues with the car unfortunately in the first test, so that limited our running time”, explained Ahmad, “The second test though, for me, was good and I was able to put in some decent times – but we didn’t use any new tyres. We weren’t looking for quick times after the earlier problems, just figuring out the best balance for the car and working on set-up.
“I think we should be in good shape for qualifying, we think we’ll have some strong pace in the car and the changes we made overnight should be positive. The track was hot on Friday and the wind had some strong gusts, so that was challenging, but overall we had a productive day in the end. I’m sure all will be good for qualifying and the race, we’re all really looking forward to it.”
Muscat-based Ahmad, who is supported by Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Ooredoo, National Bank of Oman and Al Hashar Group, is relishing today’s Paul Ricard 1,000km race which will be the longest of the Blancpain season so far at six hours in duration.
Beginning at 17.00 (local time) , the third round of the campaign will run late into the evening with the chequered flag set to fall when the Le Castellet circuit is under darkness at 23.00 (local time). As well as the importance of the race for the Oman Racing Team in terms of its championship standing, the encounter will also provide excellent preparation for the upcoming Total 24 Hours of Spa in July.
First, though, final qualifying to determine the starting order for round three of the Blancpain Endurance Series will get underway at 10.05 (local time) this morning. Live streaming of all of the day’s action will be available at www.blancpain-gt-series.com/live with the race set to receive live television coverage on Motors TV.
