Blancpain Endurance Series newcomer Ahmad Al Harthy delivered an outstanding performance on his first ever outing at Monza in Italy on Sunday, 14th April, to begin his maiden endurance racing campaign in mainland Europe in fine style.Starring with a remarkable drive through the order, following a tough qualifying session, to lead the GTC class at the wheel of the ARC Bratislava-NBO Racing Team Porsche 997 GT3R, only gearbox problems during the final third of the three hour race prevented the Omani from taking a dream result.Although eventually finishing eighth in GTC, Ahmad was very happy and delighted to produce a consistently strong performance during his two, one hour stints as team-mate to endurance racing veteran and ARC owner Miro Konpka.Easily marking the longest duration the former sprint racing competitor has ever completed, the 31-year-old National Bank of Oman, Nawras, Oman Ministry of Tourism and Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs-supported driver was justly pleased with his first weekend in the ultra-competitive series.It wasnt that bad mentally and physically, said Ahmad, In the first stint, honestly, we were on another level. I pushed as much as I could, right up until I made the pit-stop to give the car to Miro [Konpka]. We always knew we had a strong race car, qualifying didnt go as well as we hoped but in endurance racing qualifying doesnt always show how quick you really are.Im really happy with the Porsche, we were able to race with cars that were quicker than we were on the straights and then pass them in the corners. To come through so well in the GTC class and hold the lead for so long was really incredible.Despite having qualified a long way down the 60-car capacity grid in 51st position overall and seventh in the GTC class, Ahmad knew the race would be a different matter entirely and at the rolling start he quickly began to slice his way through the order.
After the first 30 minutes of racing, the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 1 Class Champion had gained an incredible 26 positions overall and led the GTC class in style. Before handing the car over to Konpka at the one hour mark, Ahmad had climbed to the cusp of the top 20 and all looked good.When his Slovakian team-mate rejoined the ARC car still led the way in GTC, but towards the end of Konpkas run he began to experience some issues with the gearbox. Unfortunately, during Ahmads second stint, the issues got worse and resulted in a potential victory slipping away.Just before my final stint we had some gremlins with the gearbox and we found out afterwards there was some small damage to the pump, explained Ahmad, It was a bit of an intermittent problem with the gear shift, sometimes I could do really good lap times and then the problem would come back and wed be in fourth gear out of second gear corners.
It progressively got worse towards the end, so we slipped back, and then over the last two laps the gearbox just died. There are so many positives though from this weekend, its the longest Ive ever driven a race car and we were very fast and competitive. Its been a great experience, the team is fantastic and this will only make us stronger for my next races in British GT and in Blancpain.Round two of the Blancpain Endurance Series will take place at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in the UK on 1st/2nd June. Before then, Ahmad will be back in action with the Oman Air Motorbase team in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship on Sunday, 5th May, and Monday, 6th May, at Rockingham.
