Positive approach from Ahmad

Derbyshire: Oman Racing Team’s Formula driver Ahmad Said Al-Harthy who is sponsored by The Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Sports, Bank Muscat and Oman Mobile finished a respectable 17th from a grid of 33 cars this weekend at the Formula Renault BARC Championship in the United Kingdom.

The preparation for this weekend started on Friday which was an open test day at Donington Park Circuit. There were no less then 50 different types of cars and formula series registered for testing which was not only challenging for our Omani driver but also for the rest of the competitors to work their way around the circuit. It was only after the evening session once the traffic cleared and the pace started to pick up did we see the true speed of Ahmad’s pace.

Saturday was rest day for all the competitors and all the action was left for Sunday where the day began with a qualifying session that lasted for 20 minutes. Al Harthy managed to complete only half the qualifying session due to a spin on lap 8 of the session. He had to settle with a lap time of 1min.12.612sec. which resulted in him starting from 21 out of 33 cars.

“I knew I had to push hard in my qualifying session, but unfortunately I went too fast into the 3rd turn, which resulted in my car spinning. Thankfully there was no damage to the car and I knew that I had a hard task ahead in the race specially after seeing how high the competition level was”, explained Al Harthy.

Ahmad in his Formula Renault took his starting grid calmly waiting for the red lights to go out which signaled the start of the race. Al Harthy had a good start straightaway overtaking the car ahead and taking a cautious approach to Turn 1. The 14 lap race saw Ahmad charge through the field finishing 17th overall with his new team mate Chris Dittmann from Great Britain finishing 16th. Ahmad’s best lap was on lap 13 with a time of 1min.10.958 only 0.7 seconds slower then the race winner.

“Overall I am pleased with my performance at Donington Park, it’s a very fast circuit with many high speed corners, and to be very close to the leaders pace was a positive. I have to work harder on my qualifying sessions and with more track time with my new car we can only progress from here. I also thank the Ministry of Tourism and Sports along with Bank Muscat and Oman Mobile for their support. After seeing the how professional and competitive the championship is I am honored to represent Oman”, mentioned Ahmad.

Next round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship is scheduled to take place on May the 19th at Croft circuit.