Oulton Park: Oman Racing Team driver Ahmad Said Al Harthy made life difficult for himself in the final race of the season in his Formula Renault at the 3.6 km circuit which is located close to the city of Manchester.

Al Harthy was very competitive in testing and was clearly aiming for a top 5 finish at this weekend’s race, but an uncharacteristic mistake by the young Omani saw him spin out in his qualifying lap making him unable to set a qualifying time which resulted in him starting from the back of a 27 car grid.

The Omani had only one goal for his final race and that was to make up as many positions from the 15 lap race. Al Harthy who started in 27th launched his car perfectly once the red lights went out and started carving his way through the pack passing 4 cars into turn 1. Ahmad managed to avoid all the incidents in the first laps while also making up positions. Midway trough the race and Ahmad had P17 indicating his race position, and as the race started to come to an end Ahmad still kept the pressure on the other racers overtaking in any situation possible working himself up to 12th place. “After my earlier incident in qualifying this morning, I knew I had to make up for my mistake, starting from the back of the grid is never easy but I had a mission and it paid of in the end, my Hillspeed Team had the pit board on the final Lap showing P12, it was a tough drive and if I had just a few more laps we could have had a top 10 finish, having said that I am delighted with my race performance”, Al Harthy relating to his final drive of the championship.

Ahmad has now completed a full season in the Formula Renault (BARC) championship and has made a name for himself , Oman as well as for the whole of Arabia in the United Kingdom circuit racing scene, being the first and only Arabian driver to complete a successful debut season in Formula Renault.

“I can honestly say that we had a great first year in the UK, the level of competition is the highest in Europe, I have learnt so much and I believe we can go further next season. This year would not have been possible without the financial support from my sponsors and family in particular who have believed in me and what I try to achieve as well as having the chance to represent Oman and Arabia in a competitive manner. I would also like to thank everyone who has been supporting me through messages on my website it always helps when you know you have support from everywhere”, an emotional Ahmad explained after his race.

Al Harthy is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Sports Affairs, BankMuscat, Oman Mobile, Ernst & Young in the 2007 Formula Renault (BARC) championship in the UK. More detailed information regarding the championship and driver can be visited online at www.ahmadalharthy.com