Frustration in France for Oman Racing
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
There was frustration for the Motorbase Performance squad in round three of the Blancpain Endurance Series when loose bodywork cost the Oman Racing Team's Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 a strong finish at the spectacular Paul Ricard circuit (27/28 June).
The #44 Aston Martin, driven by Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Caine and Stephen Jelley faced a fantastic entry of 42 GT cars for the three-hour race at the French track and the team went to France determined to challenge for a top 10 overall finish. Unfortunately, the time lost in the pits left them tenth in the Pro Cup class.
The third race meeting of the Blancpain campaign started well for the Oman Racing Team with fourth fastest time overall, second in the Pro Cup, in the opening free practice session on Friday.
Al Harthy completed a strong opening stint in the race and raced the Aston Martin through the pack from 17th overall into the top 12 and eighth in the Pro Cup. Al Harthy then handed the car over to Caine who continued the excellent progress before being forced to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 38 for attention to some loose bodywork, thought to have been dislodged over the kerbs.
The Motorbase Performance crew did a great job to get the car back into the race as quickly as possible, but the time lost curtailed any chance of finishing higher than 10th in the Pro Cup as Jelley completed the third stint.
The fourth round of the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series will be the daunting 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium over the weekend of 25-27 July. Before that big weekend of the season, the team will be at Spa on Wednesday 2 July for the official test day ahead of the 24-hour race.
Oman Racing Team driver Ahmad Al Harthy said:
"There are many, many positives to take away from this weekend even though the result wasn't what we hoped for, or could have achieved. I made a very good start, then paced myself early on and went through guys one by one. We had really good pace and it was a huge improvement for me, personally, from last year at Paul Ricard.
"There are many, many positives to take away from this weekend even though the result wasn't what we hoped for, or could have achieved. I made a very good start, then paced myself early on and went through guys one by one. We had really good pace and it was a huge improvement for me, personally, from last year at Paul Ricard.
"It's such a shame a few really small things cost us a strong finish, there was no contact and we all drove very well. The team as a whole did an amazing job, the car was fantastic and we honestly felt like we could achieve a strong result."
Oman Racing Team driver Michael Caine said:
"After I took over from Ahmad we had to bring the car back in for the loose bodywork. The organisers showed us the black and orange warning flag so we had to heed that and we lost a lot of time in the pits. The Motorbase guys did a great job but finishing 10th in class isn't what we wanted."
"After I took over from Ahmad we had to bring the car back in for the loose bodywork. The organisers showed us the black and orange warning flag so we had to heed that and we lost a lot of time in the pits. The Motorbase guys did a great job but finishing 10th in class isn't what we wanted."
Motorbase - Oman Racing Team
