Victory at Brands Hatch for Oman Air Racing Team's Ahmad Al Harthy
Date: 09 Oct 2011
A scorching weekend's driving saw Oman Air Racing Team ace Ahmad Al Harthy take first place and second place in the latest rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch last Saturday and Sunday, 1st and 2nd October.
After a hard fought race in Round 16 of the Championship on Saturday, Ahmad took second place in the Pro-Am 1 category and climbed the podium steps for the 10th time this season.
Building on Saturday's success, he drove a textbook race on Round 17 on Sunday to take first place and thus claim his second Pro-Am 1 victory of 2011.
Ahmad's remarkable success was further rewarded when he was presented with the 'Driver of the Weekend' accolade by race officials.
In unseasonably hot weather throughout the weekend, Ahmad fought off intense opposition and obstacles such as coolant spills to pull clear of Rory Butcher in both races and cross the finish line 1.6 seconds ahead of his rival on Saturday and 1.2 seconds ahead on Sunday.
The outstanding performances in both rounds of the Championship confirm the talented Omani driver's third position overall in the Pro-Am 1 standings and have narrowed the gap between him and the second-placed Butcher to just 14 points.
After the weekend's races, a thrilled Ahmad Al Harthy said:
"I'm really delighted to achieve my second win of the season and to have been on the podium twice in two days. This weekend's results and performance have confirmed that we are still in the fight for second place overall in the pro-Am 1 Championship.
"Despite the fact that it was very, very hot out there, I got a good start in both races, put my head down and put in lots of solid laps. We were able to gain good speed, hold the opposition off and achieve very satisfying finishes.
"It's so important to get these wins, it lifts the confidence and I'm really happy we were able to do it in such a hot and difficult race. It really has been a fantastic couple of days for the Oman Air Racing Team and being named the Driver of the Weekend is the icing on the cake."
"This has also been a fantastic way to begin our support for Omani charity, the National Association for Cancer Awareness.
"As always, I would like to thank Oman Air for their invaluable support and now look forward to the season finale at Silverstone."
Oman Air's Chief Officer, Corporate Affairs, Philippe Georgiou, added:
"Our congratulations go to Ahmad Al Harthy for these superb results, and for gaining his second win of the season. Ahmad's sustained commitment and string of achievements this year have made him a credit to Oman Air and an outstanding role model for young people in the Sultanate of Oman. He made us all proud. We are delighted that Oman Air's ongoing awards successes are being mirrored by Ahmad's achievements on the track and we wish him every success at the forthcoming races at Silverstone, where we hope to see him on the podium once again."