Sunday 09 / November / 2025
Several difficulties during the finale of the FIA World Endurance Championship season at Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday, 8th November, prevented Ahmad Al Harthy from adding to his 2025 points tally.
Hoping to mount a strong challenge from ninth on the LMGT3 grid, the eight-hour race began well for the Omani with an impressive and committed first few laps elevating him to sixth position and putting the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 into the thick of the points-paying places.
From there the race tailed off and performance was impacted by a confluence of issues, which meant the Team WRT trio had to settle for an eventual 15th place finish despite their very best efforts behind the wheel.
In terms of the championship battles, OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman supported racer Al Harthy ends the FIA WEC campaigneighth in the driver standings with Rossi and van der Linde. In the team championship, the squad was also eighth.
Frustrating finish to Al Harthy’s third World Championship season
Lining up ninth in LMGT3 for the start of the Bapco Energies 8 hours of Bahrain, Al Harthy made a good launch and quickly climbed into eighth place during the first few turns. Getting ahead of Team WRT’s sister BMW midway around the opening lap, he held seventh and heavily pressured the No.27 Aston Martin before sweeping past into the first corner at the beginning of the next tour.
Setting his sights on the next group, Al Harthy closed within no time and was the fastest driver in LMGT3 at that point. Things plateaued for a while but at the start of lap 11 the Aston Martin went back through, elbowing Al Harthy to seventh, and the No.46 BMW then slipped to ninth on lap 17.
Making the team’s first pit-stop of the race just after the 50-minute mark, one of the earliest drivers to do so, the Omani re-emerged in 17th position but when the race order had settled after the initial round of stops were complete, he wasin 12th place.
As the race moved on, performance stalled. After pit-stop number two Al Harthy was in 18th position but he climbed into 14th before the third pit visit with two hours and 40 minutes elapsed. Rossi got behind the wheel for his first race miles and he was 14th at the three hour mark, before then moving back up towards the top 10 after the next round of pit visits.
Driving well during the middle portion of the race, into hour five Rossi was ninth and he soon handed the car over to van der Linde. Joining the action around the top 15, he climbed as high as 12th before Rossi then returned to the driving seat with two and a half hours to go.
Thereafter, the race was very much a thankless task with no opportunity to make any progress for either Rossi or van der Linde. When the chequered flag flew at 22.00 local time, the No.46 BMW crossed the line in 15th position.
Ahmad Al Harthy:
“It’s unfortunate how the final round of the season turned out for us, we all tried our absolute best but we had some issues which meant we couldn’t fight as we wanted or had planned. Qualifying was as good as we could have hoped, I was pleased with my performance in the first part of the race but after this we were always fighting an uphill battle.
“As a season, it’s been better than last year and our competitiveness overall was higher so that’s a positive we take away – especially the two podiums. It really has been a pleasure racing with Vale and Kelvin this year, a huge thank you to them and the guys at WRT. Of course, we wouldn’t be here without all of the incredible partners from Oman so a huge thank you to them for amazing support.”
Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain LMGT3 Race Result:
1st Jose Maria Lopez / Clemens Schmid / Petru Umbrarescu(Akkodis ASP Team / Lexus RC F)
2nd Maxime Martin / Christian Ried / Lin Hodenius (Iron Lynx / Mercedes-AMG)
3rd Mattia Drudi / Ian James / Zacharie Robichon (Heart of Racing / Aston Martin Vantage)
15th Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde (Team WRT / BMW M4)
Final 2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Driver Standings:
1st Riccardo Pera / Richard Leitz / Ryan Hardwick, 123pts
2nd Alessio Rovera / Francois Heriau / Simon Mann, 109pts
3rd Jose Maria Lopez / Clemens Schmid / Petru Umbrarescu, 95pts
8th Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde, 52pts
Final 2025 FIA WEC LMGT3 Team Standings:
1st Manthey 1ST Phorm (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 123pts
2nd Vista AF Corse (Ferrari 296), 109pts
3rd Akkodis ASP Team (Lexus RC F), 95pts
8th Team WRT (BMW M4 LMGT3), 52pts
