Ahmad Al Harthy continued his sportscar racing education at Paul Ricard in southern France over the weekend, 29th/30th June, during an action-packed third round of the Blancpain Endurance Series a race in which a driveshaft problem on his Porsche 997 GT3R led to his first non-score of 2013.
Partnering Slovakian veteran Miro Konpka in the ARC Bratislava-NBO Racing Team, the Omani racer took the final stint of the three-hour encounter on his maiden appearance at the Le Castellet track and although his pace was strong, time lost in the pits with mechanical woes proved costly.
With Konpka doubling-up this weekend to take a stint of 120 minutes, all went relatively smoothly for the opening hour of the race as he moved up from ninth in the GTR Class to as high as seventh before making the teams first scheduled pit-stop from the tail end of the top 10.
Frustratingly though, a problem with the rear screen of the Porsche as Konpka rejoined the race meant he had to make a swift return to the pits to have it re-affixed. Despite the issue costing the NBO Racing Team a chunk of time, hopes remained high of a climb back up the order with roughly two thirds of the race remaining.
Running in 11th place in GTR, with around 15 minutes to go before he was scheduled to hand the car over to Ahmad at the two-hour mark, Konpka was forced to make an earlier visit to the pits due to the driveshaft issue which required major work in the garage.
Although losing approximately 20 minutes, the mechanics did a fantastic job to get the Porsche back out into the race in that time with Ahmad at the wheel and the reigning Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am1 Champion did as much as he could to bring the car home in 11th position in the GTR class.
I really learnt a lot this weekend, despite all the difficulties, reflected the National Bank of Oman, Nawras, Oman Ministry of Tourism and Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs-backed racer, When I took over the car for the final stint, it was more of a test session than anything due to the amount of time we lost with the driveshaft.
Honestly though, the team did an amazing job to get the car back out in just 20 minutes. Were all disappointed we couldnt score points, but this year is all about developing my experience and I was very happy with my pace. Its so important to get as much track time as I can, especially on my first time at a very challenging circuit like Paul Ricard, so with that in mind we take many positives away.
Round four of the Blancpain Endurance Series, the blue riband Total 24 Hours of Spa, will take place on 27th/28th July at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Practice and qualifying will be held on Thursday, 25th July, and Friday, 26th July, ahead of Ahmads first ever 24-hour racing experience that weekend.
Provisional 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series GTR Class Driver Standings (after Rd3):3rd Ahmad Al Harthy/ Miro Konpka, 29pts
Provisional 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series GTR Class Team Standings (after Rd3):
