Ahmad Al Harthy at the Isle of Wight this week with Oman Sail Extreme 40s sailing team - Image credit Lloyd Images

Omani motor racing star Ahmad Al Harthy swapped his Porsche Carrera Cup car for the open waters of the Isle of Wight this week after being invited by Oman Sail to join its Extreme 40s sailing team as part of world-famous Cowes Week.

No sooner had Ahmad concluded the latest round of Porsche Carrera Cup GB action at Snetterton 300 Circuit in East Anglia last Sunday, 7th August, he travelled south to Cowes to join-up with the Oman Air-backed Oman Sail crew.

Becoming the ‘fifth man’, and adding some unique flavour to proceedings by wearing his race suit and crash helmet, the 29-year-old relished the chance to be part of the UK round of the Extreme Sailing Series, the fifth of nine legs on the 2011 calendar which began back in February in Oman.

Muscat-born Ahmad, a sporting ambassador for Oman Air and a keen watersport enthusiast away from the track, thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent on the sea and had a fantastic time helping to promote Oman Air and his home nation as a whole at the hugely popular regatta.

“I’m so grateful to the crew of the Oman Air boat for allowing me to be their ‘fifth man’ at Cowes, it was an amazing experience and a very proud moment for me”, he said, “Cowes Week is a renowned world-class event and it’s been a dream come true being part of it.

“Sailing, like motorsport, is growing in popularity all the time back home so being involved in this event has been incredibly important to promote the tourism and business opportunities which exist in Oman. It was a lot of fun supporting the Oman Sail guys before they went out to race, I wish them the best of luck for the remainder of the Extreme Sailing Series.”

Having since returned home to Oman, Ahmad will spend the next three weeks preparing for rounds 12 and 13 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship which will take place on 3rd/4th September at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland. Ahead of the event, the Oman Air Racing Team driver is third overall in the Pro-Am 1 Class standings

Aug 7th 2011 – ROBUST SNETTERTON RACES RUIN AL HARTHY’S PODIUM HOPES

Ahmad Al Harthy maintained his top three position in the Pro-Am 1 Class standings of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, despite being barged out of potential podium finishes in both of the weekend’s races.

Frustratingly for the 29-year-old the resumption of the 2011 season didn’t bear fruit in terms of strong points finishes, through no fault of his own, but his pace throughout the weekend was superb at the wheel of his Oman Air Racing Team car.

Starting round 10 from second in Pro-Am 1, Ahmad slipped to third initially behind Derek Pierce but he ran tight to the tail of his rival and piled on the pressure lap after lap. Clearly the faster of the two, the Oman Air, Nawras, National Bank of Oman, Brand Oman, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs and Oman Ministry of Tourism-backed racer lost a lot of time as he sought a way past.

Entering the closing stages of the race, Ahmad lost third place to Rory Butcher after being caught-out while bottled-up behind Pierce but then his two rivals made contact on the penultimate lap to elevate the Muscat driver to second in Pro-Am 1.

Everything was on course for a deserved podium celebration but on the final lap, Alex Martin made a late passing attempt into the first corner and unceremoniously knocked Ahmad off the circuit. He was able to recover to the track, albeit in a disappointing sixth position.

In the second encounter, round 11, Ahmad made a great start and managed to get ahead of Butcher on the run to the first corner to take third in Pro-Am 1. But into the infield section of track he was pushed back to fourth after being boxed out at the hairpin. Piling on the pressure to Butcher as lap two got underway, the Safety Car was soon deployed due to a car off the circuit so the action abated until the re-start on lap five. Running in a very tight four-car battle with Pierce, Butcher and Martin, Ahmad continued to pressure the cars ahead while keeping an eye on his mirrors.

Driving well, but with overtaking proving extremely difficult on the newly configured Norfolk track, Ahmad almost carved open an opportunity to try and pass Pierce for third on lap nine but the door was slammed shut. Undeterred, he redoubled his efforts and on the final lap into Agostini he got alongside Pierce – but was subsequently knocked off the circuit following contact.

“We lost a lot of points this weekend which is very disappointing for everyone at the Oman Air Racing Team”, said Ahmad, “Actually though, I’m ok with it as I know there’s nothing I could have done about the two incidents today. I didn’t do anything wrong, I raced fairly as I always do and I was just taken out of both races.

“It’s very frustrating but, at the same time, these things happen in motor racing. I really wanted to be on the podium this weekend and we had the pace for sure. Even though qualifying was tough with a lot of traffic we still had a chance to be on the podium in the races. We look forward now though to the next two rounds at Knockhill – hopefully we’ll be back on the podium there.”

Rounds 12 and 13 of the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship will take place four weeks from now over the weekend 3rd/4th September at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland.

Provisional 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship ‘Pro-Am 1’ Standings (after Rd11):
1st Jonas Gelzinis, 121pts; 2nd Rory Butcher, 73pts; 3rd Ahmad Al Harthy, 51pts

Official website: www.ahmadalharthy.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ahmad-Al-Harthy/111700892183537
Twitter: @Al HarthyRacing

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