Monza, Italy – Monza specialist Ahmad Al Harthy celebrated yet another outstanding showing at the legendary Italian track during round two of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup on Sunday with Oman Racing by Century Motorsport’s first podium of 2026.

Thanks to an incredible performance from Al Harthy and teammates Calan Williams and Javier Sagrera, added to excellent strategy from the team, the No.42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO came through a dramatic and crazy race in some style.

 Rising from eighth in the Bronze Cup order, 47th overall on the grid, the OQ, Omantel, Oman LNG, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and BMW Oman-supported entry avoided a multitude of incidents to rise to third in class and 13th position in the outright order.

“I’m really happy to be back on the podium, and it’s so special for it to be at Monza again,” said Al Harthy.

“It was all down to really, really strong teamwork. We clearly didn’t have the fastest package, but, together with the drivers making no mistakes and the amazing strategy by the team, we managed to put the car in a very strong overall position and be third in Bronze – our first podium of the season.

“To step on the Monza podium again, after that historic win a couple of years ago, really was an amazing feeling and I have to say, as always, a huge thank you to all of our partners who keep believing in us. I was very, very proud to see the Oman flag flying again at Monza and we’ve closed up in the championship as well, which is great.”

Bright skies and very warm weather greeted the competitors for qualifying on Sunday morning and across the three periods Al Harthy, Sagrera and Williams combined to produce an average best lap which placed the No.42 BMW eighth in the Bronze Cup order.

Williams, who began the three-hour race, had climbed to fifth in Bronze and 14th overall by lap seven, and he continued to make progress, taking class fourth and 13th place soon after.

With 10 minutes to go in hour one, a car off at Ascari led to a Full Course Yellow period, Williams then pitted at the hour mark to hand over to Al Harthy. When the action got back underway with one hour and 50 minutes to go, the Omani held fourth in Bronze and 15th overall.

Al Harthy was soon third in Bronze and 11th overall and he swarmed all over the rear of the No.991 BMW before passing for second in class and climbing into the outright top 10. He then gained another overall position to ninth before pitting from third in Bronze with 50 minutes remaining.

Sagrera took over for the final stint and continued the team’s charge through the field. A series of late Full Course Yellow and Safety Car interruptions compressed the pack, but the Spaniard stayed out of trouble amid the closing chaos at Monza. 

Next for Al Harthy is the crown jewel event of the GTWCE Endurance Cup season – the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa. Testing and practice will begin at the third meeting of the campaign from June 23, with the huge 24-hour race starting on June 27th.