Ahmad Al Harthy continued his impressive form in the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship by qualifying third fastest in Pro-Am1 at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire, Saturday, 30th April, ahead of today's fifth and sixth rounds of the season.
Off the back of a truly memorable and history-making weekend at Donington Park a fortnight ago, where he secured his first Pro-Am 1 victory and therefore became the first Omani to stand atop a Porsche Carrera Cup GB podium, the 29-year-old from Muscat intends to add to his tally of three rostrums from the first four races when racing resumes on Sunday.
"Overall I'm happy with my performance today", said the Oman Air Racing Team driver, "We start third in class for both races tomorrow which is where we need to be to fight for more podiums and to continue our great start to the season.
"The races will be long and it's going to be so important here to look after the tyres. I had that in mind during qualifying, the drivers who look after the tyres the best should be better off in the races so we'll see what happens. I think we have a good set-up for tomorrow so I'm looking forward to it."
As consistent as ever, Ahmad produced a fastest lap time of 1m14.998 seconds (113.09mph) to take third on the grid in Pro-Am 1 for round five while his second best lap of the half-hour session was again good enough for third quickest on the round six grid - a time of 1m15.045 seconds.
Gradually building up his pace during the opening minutes of the afternoon's session, the Oman Air, Nawras, National Bank of Oman, Brand Oman, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs and Oman Ministry of Tourism supported racer took a measured approach. Without asking too much of his tyres, Ahmad was sensibly satisfied with third quickest and should be strong during Sunday's two 21-lap races. Round five of the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship will get underway at 12.10, Sunday, 1st May, with round six following at 16.25 - both encounters will be screened live in the UK on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4, and on the ITV4 HD channel. Outside the UK, the action can be followed online at itv.com/touringcars Provisional 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship 'Pro-Am 1' Standings (after Rd4):1st Jonas Gelzinis, 43pts; 2nd Ahmad Al Harthy, 24pts
