Muscat – BMW M4 GT3 racer Ahmad al Harthy is determined to deliver a strong and consistent showing in the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium, after the OQ by Oman Racing squad ended qualifying with the 11th fastest time in the Bronze class.

 Less than two weeks since he competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Omani is now embarking on final preparations for the crown jewel event of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season, which starts at 16.30 local time on Saturday, 29th June.

Joined by regular GTWCE team-mates Sam De Haan and Jens Klingmann, and also squad newcomer Calan Williams in the expanded four driver line-up at Spa-Francorchamps, Al Harthy said the focus throughout the build-up to the event has been on race pace and performance.

“We’ve been working most on the race pace and the race car, so we know we have a package that can compete. In the 24 Hours it’s always a matter of being consistent with all of the drivers. In terms of qualifying, I was happy with my pace to be honest and I think we always knew it would be tough with so much traffic, the red flags as well.

“We’re really focusing now on the race and to move forward. We’ve done this race many times, and we know we can race from any starting position. We know we have a strong car, so hopefully we can execute it the best possible way. I’m looking forward to it, the race will be extremely challenging with an overall entry of almost 70 cars, so we need to have a smooth race and be consistent.”

With that in mind, an average combined best lap from the four qualifying sessions of 2m17.188 seconds – roughly just half a second shy of the Bronze class top three – was satisfying enough for the Omani and he is determined to mount a serious challenge in GT3 racing’s biggest event of the year.

Klingmann took the first qualifying session on Thursday, 27th June, and set a good benchmark in the No.30 BMW M4 with a lap of 2m17.076 seconds. Al Harthy was next up in Q2 and the OQ, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Omantel and BMW Oman supported racer produced a fastest time of 2m17.554 seconds – his session red flagged with a couple of minutes to go.

De Haan climbed behind the wheel for session three, lapping in 2m17.531 seconds, before Williams took the fourth period and set the quickest time of the four OQ by Oman Racing drivers with a lap of 2m16.594 seconds. The final session was also impacted by a red flag stoppage midway through.

Prior to the grid-determining sessions on Thursday evening, the team prepared well during free practice and pre-qualifying and Al Harthy is happy the team has a car which can make progress in the race and climb the order – with a strong focus as always on consistency and reliability.