Ahmad Al Harthy took his first victory in UK racing when winning the Pro-Am1 class in Round three of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Donington Park. The victory also saw him become the first Omani driver to stand on the top step of the Carrera Cup podium.
A strong performance during the official test day on Thursday saw him finish the day sixth fastest overall and second in class. He wasn't quite able to repeat this in qualifying though, with his best times seeing him eleventh on the grid for the two races.
The 29-year-old made a superb start in race one saw him move up to eighth by the end of the opening lap, with a mistake by Jonas Gelzinis on lap nine moving him up to seventh and into the lead of Pro-Am1. He held on to his lead for the remainder of the race to take the win, finishing sixth overall in the process.
Another great start in the second race saw him retain eleventh and second in class. He gained a place on lap ten, before passing Porsche Scholarship winner Benji Hetherington on lap fifteen to take ninth, the place he eventually finished. The second place in class saw him move into second in the class standings ahead of the next rounds at Thruxton on April 31/May 1.
Al Harthy commented: “I can't believe it, I can't believe I've finally won my first race in the UK! I really had a feeling we could do this today but to actually take my first win is amazing, it's an unbelievable result. I did my best, I knew we could do this and we delivered. It was a very hard race, so hard to stay ahead of some really quick guys but we did it – I'm so, so happy.”
“It really has been the best weekend of my career, we've had great pace since the test on Thursday and even though qualifying wasn't quite as good as it should have been the races were amazing. I can't wait now for Thruxton in a couple of weeks, I can't explain how happy I feel!”
Al Harthy is continued to be backed by Oman Air, Nawras, National Bank of Oman, Brand Oman, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs and Oman Ministry of Tourism.
