Dominant first pole of FIA WEC season for Al Harthy and Rossi
Omani racer Al Harthy took the main qualifying session at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari and was exceptional throughout, ultimately recording the provisional pole position time of 1m42.731 seconds to ensure the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 progressed to the all-important Hyperpole.
Italian hero Rossi took over the car for the second session, and he produced a best of 1m42.355 seconds to seal the class pole position for today's 6 Hours of Imola, sparking electrifying celebrations among his home fans.
'I'm absolutely delighted with pole, first being fastest in my session and then Valentino fastest in Hyperpole here in Italy,' said Al Harthy. It's fantastic to achieve our first pole position with BMW and WRT in FIA WEC and it's obviously the best place to start the race, I really am delighted.
'Thank you for all of the amazing support we have, our incredible partners, this pole is the first step in us trying to accomplish the results we are all aiming for on the track. I'm really looking forward to the race, Imola is an old school circuit so we do have to be careful and make sure we have the best execution possible,' he added.
Quick from the off in the first two free practice runs on Friday, the Team WRT trio of Al Harthy, Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde ended session one third fastest with a lap of 1m43.453 seconds. Carrying that level of performance through to session two, the No.46 BMW was third again with an improved 1m43.186 seconds, only 0.2 seconds shy of the top.
Following the third practice on Saturday morning, where the team ended sixth fastest, OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman supported racer Al Harthy prepared for the short 12 minute qualifying session with the clear aim of trying to progress the car to the subsequent Hyperpole.
Immediately pumping in good pace, Al Harthy went fastest on his first full lap with a time of 1m48.984 seconds and the next time around – his first true flyer – the Omani smashed his previous time with a lap of 1m43.718 seconds to remain on top.
Quicker still he lowered his best to a 1m43.032 seconds lap,before then dipping below the 1m43 second barrier with a tremendous effort of 1m42.731 seconds to completely dominate the session and end qualifying some 0.7 seconds clear.
Rossi took over from Al Harthy for the 10-minute Hyperpole session and he went to the top of the times with his first lap of 1m43.836 seconds, before then slicing eight tenths of a second off his previous best to remain fastest with a time of 1m43.011 seconds. Slipping to fourth with just three minutes to run, Rossi made a final push and delivered a fantastic 1m42.355 seconds to take pole.
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