Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 driver Ahmad Al Harthy and team-mate Michael Caine managed to salvage some vital championship points with a top eight result in round five of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship season at Snetterton on Sunday, 22nd June, despite a challenging weekend overall.With a tough qualifying run having put the Oman Racing Team on the back foot heading into raceday at the Norfolk track, the double race winners knew rounds five and six of the season would provide a stern test. Strong performances in each of the 60-minute encounters, though, underlined the team’s true competitiveness and Ahmad and Caine concluded the event by adding 12th position in race two.“We fought as hard as we could and took some good points away from the first race, we showed again how competitive our package is but qualifying was the main problem”, said 32-year-old Ahmad, “Our race pace was good, I was happy with my own performance and Michael was, of course, very strong too but overtaking at Snetterton is so difficult.“You always want to score in every round, we weren’t able to do that this weekend but there are positives to take away. The aim is to improve our qualifying for the next round of British GT but first we’re heading straight to France for the Blancpain Endurance Series race next weekend – it’s a very busy period for the Oman Racing Team.”Beginning round five on Sunday morning from the fifth row of the grid, Ahmad took the opening stint in the Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Tourism, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Nawras, National Bank of Oman and Al Hashar Group/Aston Martin Oman liveried car and although nudged back to 11th place initially, he made his way into ninth position after a handful of laps.As soon as the pit window opened at the 25 minute mark, Ahmad and many of the other front runners opted to make their mandatory driver-change stops and when Caine rejoined the race he was in 11th position – despite the application of an additional 15 seconds to the pit-stop by way of a ‘success penalty’ following the team’s win at Silverstone during the previous round.Moving into the points-paying top 10 on lap 18, Caine had a major gap to bridge to catch the next group of cars and although passed by the Audi of Matt Bell on lap 24 the Oman Racing Team car was able to move into 10th again when Warren Hughes’ Porsche encountered difficulties. Climbing into ninth on the final lap, post-race that became eighth when a rival was excluded from the results.Round six was always going to be an even trickier challenge, with the No.4 Aston Martin lining-up 17th on the grid, but the action was dramatically red flagged on lap two after a major multi-car tangle at the first corner, Riches. Lengthy repairs to the barriers were required, delaying the re-start by an hour, and when the action finally got underway it did so behind the Safety Car.Caine took the first stint and held 14th position on lap one before making his way into the top 12 prior to handing the car over to Ahmad at the end of lap 12. When the Omani rejoined the race, he circulated in 15th position but managed to work his way back into 12th place before the finish. In the provisional points standings, Ahmad and Caine have managed to hold on to a top four placing.Next on the Avon Tyres British GT Championship calendar is the sole overseas trip for the UK-based category, rounds seven and eight at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 11th/12th July. Before then, the Oman Racing Team will be in action in the dovetailed Blancpain Endurance Series this coming weekend, 28th/29th June, at Paul Ricard in southern France.Provisional 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship Driver Standings (after Rd6):4th Ahmad Al Harthy & Michael Caine, 74pts