Monday 08 / September / 2025
Incredible teamwork, patience and spirit helped Ahmad Al Harthy and Team WRT team-mates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde make a richly deserved return to the FIA World Endurance Championship podium in America on Sunday, 7th September, in a rain-hit sixth round of the season.
Having qualified a highly creditable fourth on the grid for the ‘Lone Star Le Mans’ at the Circuit of the Americas, hopes were high of a strong challenge in LMGT3. Nobody, though, could’ve predicted the excitement of the grandstand finish which delivered second place – and almost a dream win.
Heavy rain arrived at COTA for raceday and so the field circulated behind the Safety Car at the beginning. before worsening conditions resulted in race officials choosing to implement a red flag stoppage around the one hour mark.
When race action finally got underway, with just over four hours to run and strategies turned on their head, the No.46 BMW team-mates performed impressively. During the final half hour van der Linde starred, charging from 10th place to a fantastic second position after switching to slick Goodyear tyres on a now drying track.
Amazing race takes Al Harthy back to FIA WEC podium
Oman’s Al Harthy took the opening double stint of the race but his renowned wet-weather prowess couldn’t be showcased initially, due to the Safety Car staying out due to the level of rainfall and the treacherousness of the track. After taking a pit-stop at the 35-minute mark, Al Harthy was ninth and as the clock ticked past one hour red flags appeared due to worsening rain.
Although the track was still very wet around 40 minutes later, officials released the field again behind the Safety Car and green flags were finally shown for racing to begin with roughly four hours remaining. Wasting no time, showcasing his skills in the very challenging conditions, Al Harthy took eighth place midway through the first racing lap and then rapidly moved up to seventh.
Soon enough the Safety Car reappeared, action then resuming with three hours and 45 minutes to go, when Al Harthy – who is supported by OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman – pitted.
Rossi got behind the wheel at that point and climbed from 10th to sixth ahead of another cautionary period. As the order shuffled under a Virtual Safety Car period, with more pit-stops served, Rossi moved into the top three. Following an unfortunate drive-through penalty for an infringement during the VSC the Italian was 16th, but he moved to 12th before handing over to van der Linde.
Facing a major challenge to try and climb back through, the South African set about his task. After another Safety Car, with 90 minutes to run, van der Linde was ready to pounce at the resumption and gained two places in quick succession.
He took ninth moments later, then eighth, and a grandstand finish was certainly in prospect. After another brief cautionary period van der Linde continued to progress and was into sixth before the crucial final pit-stop. Emerging on track in 10th place under Full Course Yellows, and now on slicks, when the cars were unleashed the BMW was ninth with just 26 minutes to go.
Just 10 minutes later he had sliced through to sixth position, circulating several seconds per lap faster than the cars ahead on the drying track, and with only five minutes to go he was into the podium places. Third at the chequered flag, just two tenths behind second position, van der Linde was then elevated to second place due to a penalty for the erstwhile race winning Ferrari.
Ahmad Al Harthy said: “What a race, unbelievable! I haven’t really been part of a race that has been so dramatic in the last 25 minutes, going from the tail of the top 10 all the way up to the podium. With the drying conditions we knew that would be the best time for our car to perform and now we have my first ever podium in America, it was just amazing to have all of the support from back home in Oman.
“I want to thank everyone, especially His Excellency Talal bin Sulaiman Al Rahbi, our Ambassador to the United States, his support meant so much. We had so much support from home and to be on the podium again in the World Endurance Championship, our second podium of the season, is amazing – everyone has worked so hard for this. Thank you so much to everyone at the team as always, Vale and Kelvin, and we look forward to Fuji now!”
Fuji Speedway in Japan will host the penultimate event of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, round seven, just three weeks from now over the weekend 27th/28th September.
