Muscat – World-famous Fuji Speedway in Japan is the destination for Ahmad Al Harthy this week for the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, where the Omani hopes to build on the outstanding podium finish achieved just over a fortnight ago in the USA.

Taking place on Saturday and Sunday, the seventh event of the FIA WEC campaign marks a great opportunity for Al Harthy and his Team WRT teammates, Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde, at Fuji, having also been the scene of a podium finish last season for Al Harthy and Rossi.

Al Harthy – supported as always by major partners OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman – is certainly feeling confident.

“We’re all still buzzing from the second place at COTA,” said Al Harthy.

“It was an incredible race, very unpredictable with the weather, the red flag, and that last half hour where Kelvin did such a fantastic job. We want to keep that momentum going this weekend in Japan and try to challenge for another podium, especially in the 100th race of the World Endurance Championship – that would be very special.

“Fuji is an amazing circuit, I love driving there and it’s always a real highlight of the season. We’ve performed well there in both 2023 and 2024, and last year’s podium was a great result from 12th on the grid. As always, we’ll give maximum effort and work as hard as possible to try and deliver the best result for the team and for all of our amazing partners and supporters back home in Oman.”

This year’s visit to Japan marks only the third of the Omani’s career, and on each occasion he has performed superbly. On his Fuji debut in 2023 Al Harthy climbed from 12th on the grid into podium contention within the first hour of racing, last year he, Rossi and then team-mate Maxime Martin stormed to a third-place finish for BMW and now the focus is to challenge for yet more silverware.

There is certainly a buzz among the team ahead of round seven after a remarkable performance at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, USA, a little over two weeks ago. In an absolutely rain-lashed six-hour race, which began behind the Safety Car and was actually red-flagged due to the conditions after just an hour, Al Harthy, Rossi and van der Linde combined to deliver a sensational showing.

Van der Linde, especially, starred during the final half hour at COTA where a decision to switch onto slick Goodyear tyres paid dividends. Scything through from 10th position to second place at the finish, the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 was just 0.2 seconds shy of victory.

As a result, the squad’s second podium finish of the campaign elevated them back into the top 10 of the championship in both the driver and team standings – just six points shy of eighth place and 16 points outside the top six.

With 25 points available for a race win, 18 points for second place and 15 points for third, another rostrum visit in Japan could have a major impact. Notably, this year’s 6 Hours of Fuji carries extra prestige as it will be 100th race in the history of the FIA World Endurance Championship.