Monday 12 / May / 2025
Team WRT trio Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde had to be satisfied with a ninth place result during round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Belgium on Saturday, 10th May, in an encounter where the pace of the No.46 BMW M4 was largely maximised.
Aiming to mount a podium challenge ahead of the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, continuing the momentum from their fabulous second place at Imola in Italy last month, other than a speed-limiter glitch in one of the pit-stops the race went fairly faultlessly.
Oman’s Al Harthy raced very competitively from ninth on the LMGT3 grid during his two hour-plus stint. Making excellent early gains after a superb start, he ensured the team was in the best position possible as the No.46 car spent a good portion of the first 120 minutes in and around the top three.
Following the system glitch at Al Harthy’s second stop, an unfortunate drive-through penalty had to be served before Rossi and van der Linde then took the concluding parts of the six-hour race at the famous Ardennes track.
Qualifying on Saturday went well for Al Harthy, ending the run seventh fastest and just half a second shy of provisional pole. Progressing the Team WRT entry into the all-important Hyperpole session immediately after, which Rossi contested, the Italian ended up ninth in the top 10 grid shoot-out.
As usual, OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman supported Al Harthy took the start of the race and he made typically impressive early progress. Leaping into the top five and then staying there to lap eight, the Omani then climbed into fourth.
Rising into the top three later in the opening hour, as the first 60 minutes of action reached its conclusion Al Harthy was in the lead of the class with pit-stops already taking place. Following his first pit-stop he held third in LMGT3 prior to a Virtual Safety Car period and remained in the podium battle midway through hour two before a full Safety Car interruption.
Following the team’s second stop Al Harthy found himself ninth in LMGT3 and into the third hour he climbed back into the top six and worked hard to undo the damage of the penalty stop before Rossi took over. Battling his way back to the tail of the top six by the end of hour three, when the Safety Car was again required, soon after he moved into second as further pit-stops were made.
Rossi then pitted and rejoined in seventh, climbing up to third with just a couple of hours remaining as the Safety Car circulated once more. At the next pit visit van der Linde took his first race miles with roughly 90 minutes to go and although moving up from the top 12 to fifth, after a final stop with 40 minutes left the South African was 12th again and had to ultimately settle for ninth position.
Ahmad Al Harthy said, “We had a really mega start and a very good first two stints, the car felt really good and we managed to get quite a few places. After the first pit-stops we managed to go up to P2 and then P1 with amazing strategy, and some fuel saving as well, but unfortunately there was a glitch in the system at the next stop which resulted in us having to serve a drive-through for the speed limit.
“We managed to compose ourselves and come back, start hunting the places back, and really got the car in a respectable position before Vale took over – he and Kelvin did a great job. The pace of the car for this weekend was what it was, P9 in the end was the actual maximum we could have got out of the car. Spa being Spa, it was a very entertaining race and a very tough race.
“Realistically it was nearly a perfect race for us in terms of our driving performances and the strategy, even without the glitch in the system it wouldn’t have made us finish any higher than we were this weekend. We’ve understood a lot from the car and that will make us stronger for the most important race of the season, the Le Mans 24 Hours. I’m delighted and excited to be going back to Le Mans again and representing Oman in such an amazing motorsport event.”
Round four of the FIA WEC season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will be contested over the weekend 14th/15th June at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France.
TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps LMGT3 Race Result
1st Alessio Rovera / Francois Heriau / Simon Mann
(Vista AF Corse / Ferrari 296)
2nd Dennis Olsen / Stefano Gattuso / Gianmarco Levorato
(Proton Competition / Ford Mustang)
3rd Davide Rigon / Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci
(Vista AF Corse / Ferrari 296)
4th Ben Barker / Bernardo Sousa / Ben Tuck
(Proton Competition / Ford Mustang)
5th Mattia Drudi / Ian James / Zacharie Robichon
(Heart of Racing Team / Aston Martin Vantage)
9th Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde
(Team WRT / BMW M4)
2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Driver Standings (after Rd3):
1st Ben Keating / Daniel Juncadella / Jonny Edgar, 44pts
2nd Alessio Rovera / Francois Heriau / Simon Mann, 40pts
3rd Arnold Robin / Finn Gehrsitz, 38pts
9th Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde, 21pts
2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Team Standings (after Rd3):
1st TF Sport (Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R), 44pts
2nd Vista AF Corse (Ferrari 296 GT3), 40pts
3rd Akkodis ASP Team (Lexus RC F LMGT3), 38pts
9th Team WRT (BMW M4 LMGT3), 21pts
