It was a frustrating weekend for the Oman Racing Team as loose bodywork kept them denied them a strong finish in France.

The team’s Aston Martin faced tough competition from 42 other GT cars and the team travelled to southern France with a target of a top ten overall finish after reaching the top ten at Silverstone the previous week, however, long pit stops halted their hopes as they finished tenth in the pro cup class.

The third race meeting of the Blancpain endurance series in southern France started well for the team and after the first free practice of the weekend they finished with the fourth fastest time overall and second in the Pro Cup.

Ahmad Al Harthy began the race for the team and quickly moved up the standings, he took the Aston Martin V12 Vantage from 17^th to 12^th and eighth in the Pro Cup, after Al Harthy’s good start to the race Michael Cane was able to continue to maintain the excellent level of driving, however, he was forced to make an unscheduled stop on the team’s 38^th lap in order for the motorbase performance team to adjust some lose bodywork from Cane’s time in the car.

This unwanted break meant that the team’s hope of finishing in the top ten was all but over as Stephen Jelly began his stint in the car, despite this, he was able to comfortably complete the race without trouble meaning that they finished tenth in the Pro Cup class.

Despite ending the race out of their preferred position, Ahmad Al Harthy explained that the team were able to positively look at what they were able to take away from their weekend “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.”

The next stage of the Blancpain Endurance Series is on the 27^th of July when all 52 teams will travel to Spa in Belgium for the only 24 hour race of the series.