Muscat – Ahmad al Harthy is hopeful of getting Oman Racing’s LMGTE championship bid back on track as Catalunya hosts the fourth race of the 2022 European Le Mans Series on Sunday.

Oman’s Al Harthy, who is partnered by Sam De Haan and Marco Sorensen for his maiden season in the ELMS, is already an LMGTE race winner – from round two at Imola in Italy – but in the last race in Monza the trio had to contend with an extremely negative Balance of Performance (BoP) grading, which ruined any opportunity to be competitive.

The Oman Racing team finished ninth in the Monza four-hour race with the No.69 Aston Martin Vantage GTE completely hamstrung.

Now, Al Harthy, supported by Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, OQ, Omantel and MHD-ITICS – says a podium return at the very least is the target, if the BoP ruling for Barcelona is less draconian.

“Monza was a very tough weekend, we just didn’t have the power to compete due to the severity of the BoP so we’re hopeful we’ll be on a much more level playing field this weekend in Barcelona and able to challenge for the podium,” said Al Harthy.

“That’s what we’re all here for, to race as hard as we can for trophies, wins and, ultimately, a championship.

“Everyone at Oman Racing has done an amazing job all season in our first year in the European Le Mans Series, the team has worked so hard and I was so impressed with how all three of us – Sam, Marco and I – drove at Monza despite how demoralising it was. We obviously lost the championship lead but we’re determined to get it back and will be giving everything as we always do.”

Al Harthy has enjoyed success in Barcelona in the past with Oman Racing, including last year’s Pro-Am podium finish in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup race, which he dedicated to the people of Oman in the aftermath of tropical cyclone Shaheen.

In 2019 he was second in Pro-Am during the memorable GTWCE season finale in Barcelona, his fifth straight podium from five races which also helped to wrap up his and Oman Racing’s second Pro-Am title in the Endurance Cup after a sparkling campaign.

The opening free practice at Barcelona will get underway at 11 am local time on Friday, with a standalone session for ‘Bronze’ graded drivers at 3.30 pm. Second free practice will take place at 11.10 am on Saturday with the LMGTE qualifying session at 3.45 pm.

 The 4 Hours of Barcelona will begin at 11.45 am on Sunday. The race will be streamed LIVE online at: https://live.europeanlemansseries.com/en/