
Ahmad braces for Imola 6-Hour race
IMOLA, Italy: Following a break of just over six weeks since the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar, the global challenge resumes this coming weekend, April 19/20 in Italy for the 6 Hours of Imola – where Ahmad al Harthy is aiming to bid for his first podium of the year.
Producing excellent pace in qualifying and race trim during the championship curtain-raiser in late February, the Omani and Team WRT team-mates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde were on course for a very strong result.
Unfortunately, an issue with the No 46 BMW M4 LMGT3 had a negative impact on the pace they were able to run during the second half of the 10-hour encounter and the trio had to ultimately settle for an 11th place finish.
Ahmad al Harthy aims to bounce back strongly after a disappointing result in Qatar.
Knowing, from the early race pace performance in Qatar, they have a car and set-up capable of challenging for the podium, this weekend's six-hour race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari will be seen as a fresh start to the squad's 2025 season.
Imola, of course, was a very happy hunting ground for Al Harthy and Team WRT last year where a genuine bid for LMGT3 victory was only dashed by a late penalty. Nonetheless, Al Harthy, Rossi and then team-mate Maxime Martin still secured an excellent second place result.
Repeating such a performance this time around will be the focus for the No 46 squad, and the power of the challenge will be boosted by the tens of thousands of fans expected to pack the grandstands in support of their home hero Rossi.
As always, Al Harthy has unstinting support for his FIA WEC campaign from his prestigious partners OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, BMW Oman, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman.
Ahmed al Harthy during the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue in Doha.
Ahmad al Harthy:
'We can't wait to be back racing this weekend and we're all really looking forward to returning to Imola, the scene of our best result last season in FIA WEC. Last year's race was amazing, we had great a pace and were very close to actually taking our first LMGT3 win. There's no reason we can't be just as competitive this time around, we're all going to be pushing very hard to fight for the podium.
'The main aim is to bounce back as strongly as we can after Qatar, things were going well and I was very happy with my triple stint at the beginning. Unfortunately, the issue we had with the car meant we couldn't take the fight to the other teams later on, but this weekend is a fresh start in many ways and we're all determined to kick-start our championship.'
Free practice at Imola begins with two sessions on Friday, 18th April, ahead of session three on Saturday, 19th April which precedes qualifying at 14.30 local time – with Hyperpole following immediately after. The 6 Hours of Imola will get underway at 13.00 local time on Sunday, 20th April, and all of the action can be followed at www.fiawec.com
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Muscat Daily
12 hours ago
- Muscat Daily
Oman set for crucial Palestine test in 2026 World Cup qualifiers
Amman, Jordan – Oman will face Palestine on Tuesday in a crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifier, with a place in the next round at stake. The match will kick off at 10:15 pm Oman time at the King Abdullah Stadium in Amman, Jordan. A draw or a win will be enough for Oman to advance to the Asian play-offs for the tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Speaking at a press conference in Amman, head coach Rashid Jaber said his team was focused on securing three points. 'We are playing against a team with good players, and our goal is to collect the three points that will qualify us to participate in the Asian play-offs for the 2026 World Cup,' he said. 'The match is important and requires effort.' Oman defeated Palestine 1-0 in the first leg held at the Sultan Qaboos Complex in Bausher during the fifth round of Group Two matches in the third stage of Asian qualifying. A large contingent of Omani supporters is expected to arrive in Jordan on Tuesday to back the national team. Meanwhile, Australia take on Saudi Arabia in Jeddah with automatic qualification for next year's World Cup finals on the line. Tony Popovic's outfit go into the meeting at the King Abdullah Sports City with one foot on the plane to North America after a 1-0 win over Japan on Thursday brought the Socceroos breathing room in their quest for a place at the finals. Australia hold a three-point lead over Herve Renard's side and a large enough goal difference to leave the Saudis needing to win by five goals to climb into second and claim the last automatic berth from the current phase of Asian preliminaries. Japan have already secured top spot in Group C while Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Jordan have taken the other berths available to Asian nations at the expanded World Cup from the third phase of qualifying. A further two spots will be up for grabs from a fourth round of qualifiers to be played in October. Anything other than a significant win over the Australians would see Saudi Arabia finish third in Group C and enter that next phase, where they would join the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq and Indonesia.


Observer
13 hours ago
- Observer
Al Harthy awaits for the '24 Hours of Le Mans' race
Global motorsport's greatest and most challenging race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe in France, is mere days away for Oman's Ahmad al Harthy who intends to mount a major bid for silverware with team-mates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde. Marking the halfway stage of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, round four of the 2025 campaign, this year's visit to Le Mans — the race begins on Saturday, June 14 — will be Al Harthy's third attempt at the endurance racing classic where he is a past podium finisher. Memorably, of course, he made history on his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut back in 2023 when racing to a sensational second place result in the then GTE Am class — success which he happily dedicated to his Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. Now competing in LMGT3, the successor to GTE, the Omani's second season with Team WRT in the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 has been impacted by some misfortune but there has been celebration as well thanks to a fantastic second place — a mere 0.3 seconds shy of victory — at Imola in Italy in April. Climbing to sixth in the LMGT3 standings at that point, having had to settle for 11th place during the season-opening event at Lusail in Qatar, a podium bid last time out at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium ultimately became ninth due to a pit-lane speed limiter glitch which resulted in a luckless penalty. While there have been frustrations with some of the misfortune, the overall pace and performance across qualifying and race conditions from the Team WRT entry has been outstanding and Al Harthy himself has been extremely satisfied with the level of his own personal performance thus far. Supported as always by OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MoCSY), and Experience Oman, Al Harthy is very much looking forward to welcoming plenty of key partners to the 93rd staging of the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this week. This year's race entry features a combined total of 62 cars across the Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 classes, with 24 in LMGT3 alone — the biggest class of the three. The No.46 BMW LMGT3 will be battling competition from the likes of Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. AHMED AL HARTHY: 'Le Mans is always the biggest event of the year, not just in WEC but in motorsport as a whole, and it truly is an incredible honour to again represent Oman at such a prestigious, famous and historic race. It was the proudest moment of my career to climb the podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a couple of years ago on my debut in the race, truly an amazing moment to see the Omani flag fly. 'We're working as hard as we can to be back on the podium this weekend, and with Vale and Kelvin we're pushing as hard as ever to prepare as strongly as possible for the race. It's going to be an amazing week building-up to the race, I can't wait to get started.' Free practice begins at Le Mans this Wednesday, 11th June, with qualifying then getting underway at 18.45 local time – the fastest 12 cars progressing to Hyperpole at 20.00 on Thursday, 12th June. In between these sessions there will have been two further practice runs. Hyperpole for this year sees the top eight progress to a second Hyperpole session to determine the first four rows of the grid. More night-time practice follows before a day away from track action on Friday, 13th June. Warm-up for the big race takes place at midday local time on Saturday, 14th June, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning at 16.00 local time. Follow everything at or 2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Driver Standings (after Rd3): 1st Ben Keating / Daniel Juncadella / Jonny Edgar, 44pts 2nd Alessio Rovera / Francois Heriau / Simon Mann, 40pts 3rd Arnold Robin / Finn Gehrsitz, 38pts 9th Ahmad al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde, 21pts 2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Team Standings (after Rd3): 1st TF Sport (Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R), 44pts 2nd Vista AF Corse (Ferrari 296 GT3), 40pts 3rd Akkodis ASP Team (Lexus RC F LMGT3), 38pts 9th Team WRT (BMW M4 LMGT3), 21pts


Muscat Daily
17 hours ago
- Muscat Daily
Oman's Al Harthy geared up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Muscat – Global motorsport's greatest and most challenging race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe in France, is mere days away for Oman's Ahmad al Harthy, who intends to mount a major bid for silverware with teammates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde. Marking the halfway stage of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, round four of the 2025 campaign, this year's visit to Le Mans – the race begins on Saturday – will be Al Harthy's third attempt at the endurance racing classic, where he is a past podium finisher. Memorably, of course, he made history on his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut back in 2023 when racing to a sensational second place result in the then GTE Am class – success which he happily dedicated to His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. 'Le Mans is always the biggest event of the year, not just in WEC but in motorsport as a whole, and it truly is an incredible honour to again represent Oman at such a prestigious, famous and historic race,' said Al Harthy. 'It was the proudest moment of my career to climb the podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a couple of years ago on my debut in the race, truly an amazing moment to see the Omani flag fly. 'We're working as hard as we can to be back on the podium this weekend, and with Vale and Kelvin, we're pushing as hard as ever to prepare as strongly as possible for the race. It's going to be an amazing week building up to the race, I can't wait to get started.' Now competing in LMGT3, the successor to GTE, the Omani's second season with Team WRT in the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 has been impacted by some misfortune but there has been celebration as well, thanks a fantastic second place – a mere 0.3 seconds shy of victory – at Imola in Italy in April. Climbing to sixth in the LMGT3 standings at that point, having had to settle for 11th place during the season-opening event at Lusail in Qatar, a podium bid last time out at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium ultimately became ninth due to a pit-lane speed limiter glitch which resulted in a luckless penalty. While there have been frustrations with some of the misfortune, the overall pace and performance across qualifying and race conditions from the Team WRT entry has been outstanding and Al Harthy himself has been extremely satisfied with the level of his own personal performance thus far. Supported as always by OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman, Al Harthy is very much looking forward to welcoming plenty of key partners to the 93rd staging of the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this week. This year's race entry features a combined total of 62 cars across the Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 classes, with 24 in LMGT3 alone – the biggest class of the three. The No.46 BMW LMGT3 will be battling competition from the likes of Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. The 24 Hours of Le Mans start at 16.00 local time.