Following a pause of just over six weeks since the first round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar, the global challenge begins this weekend, April 19th/20th, in Italy for the 6 Hours of Imola, where Ahmad Al Harthy hopes to secure his first podium of the year.
During the championship curtain-raiser in late February, the Omani and Team WRT teammates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde demonstrated excellent qualifying and race performance, putting them on track for a strong result.
Unfortunately, an issue with the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 limited the speed they could maintain over the second half of the 10-hour race, and the three had to settle for 11th position.
Knowing from their early race pace performance in Qatar that they had a car and setup capable of fighting for the podium, this weekend's six-hour race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari will be viewed as a fresh start to the team's 2025 season.
Of course, Imola was a joyful hunting ground for Al Harthy and Team WRT last year, when a genuine bid for LMGT3 triumph was thwarted by a late penalty. Nonetheless, Al Harthy, Rossi, and their teammate Maxime Martin finished in second position.
The No.46 squad will be focused on repeating such a performance this time around, and the challenge will be heightened by the tens of thousands of fans set to fill the grandstands in support of their hometown hero Rossi.
As again, Al Harthy's FIA WEC campaign is fully supported by his illustrious partners OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, BMW Oman, the Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth, and Experience Oman.
Ahmed Al Harthy:
"We can not wait to get back to racing this weekend, and we are extremely excited to return to Imola, where we achieved our best performance in the FIA WEC last season. Last year's race was incredible; we had tremendous pace and were very close to winning our first LMGT3 championship. There is no reason why we can not be just as competitive this time around; we will all be working hard to compete for the podium.
"The important goal is to rebound as strongly as possible after Qatar; everything were going well, and I was quite pleased with my triple stint at the start. Unfortunately, the issue with the car prevented us from taking on the other teams later on, but this weekend is a new beginning in many ways, and we are all keen to kick-start our championship."
Free practice in Imola begins with two sessions on Friday, April 18th, followed by session three on Saturday, April 19th, which precedes qualifying at 14.30 local time, with Hyperpole immediately after. The 6 Hours of Imola will begin at 13:00 local time on Sunday, April 20th.
