Wednesday 16 / April / 2025
Muscat: Following a break of just over six weeks since the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar, the global challenge resumes this coming weekend, 19th/20th April, in Italy for the 6 Hours of Imola – where Ahmad Al Harthy is aiming to bid for his first podium of the year.
Producing excellent pace in qualifying and race trim during the championship curtain-raiser in late February, the Omani and Team WRT team-mates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde were on course for a very strong result.
Unfortunately, an issue with the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 had a negative impact on the pace they were able to run during the second half of the 10-hour encounter and the trio had to ultimately settle for an 11th place finish.
Knowing, from the early race pace performance in Qatar, they have a car and set-up capable of challenging for the podium, this weekend’s six-hour race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari will be seen as a fresh start to the squad’s 2025 season.
Imola, of course, was a very happy hunting ground for Al Harthy and Team WRT last year where a genuine bid for LMGT3 victory was only dashed by a late penalty. Nonetheless, Al Harthy, Rossi and then team-mate Maxime Martin still secured an excellent second place result.
Repeating such a performance this time around will be the focus for the No.46 squad, and the power of the challenge will be boosted by the tens of thousands of fans expected to pack the grandstands in support of their home hero Rossi.
As always, Al Harthy has unstinting support from his prestigious partners OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman. Additionally, the Omani has – during the break since round one – welcomed new strategic partner Oman LNG to his portfolio.
Ahmad Al Harthy said: “We can’t wait to be back racing this weekend and we’re all really looking forward to returning to Imola, the scene of our best result last season in FIA WEC. Last year’s race was amazing, we had great pace and were very close to actually taking our first LMGT3 win. There’s no reason we can’t be just as competitive this time around, we’re all going to be pushing very hard to fight for the podium.
“The main aim is to bounce back as strongly as we can after Qatar, things were going well and I was very happy with my triple stint at the beginning. Unfortunately the issue we had with the car meant we couldn’t take the fight to the other teams later on, but this weekend is a fresh start in many ways and we’re all determined to kick-start our championship.”
Free practice at Imola begins with two sessions on Friday, 18th April, ahead of session three on Saturday, 19th April which precedes qualifying at 14.30 local time – with Hyperpole following immediately after. The 6 Hours of Imola will get underway at 13.00 local time on Sunday, 20th April.
