Al Harthy Romps to Double Pole for Abu Dhabi Finale

Ahmad Al Harthy delivered 99 Racing a dominant pole position for both races that make up this weekend’s Asian Le Mans Series finale in Abu Dhabi.

Bronze-rated Al Harthy set the best lap of 1:40.720 at the wheel of the No. 99 Oreca 07 Gibson in the 15-minute qualifying session for LMP2 and LMP3 cars to take pole for Saturday’s opener, a massive 0.806 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

That was Giorgio Roda in the No. 22 Proton Competition Oreca, whose best lap of 1:41.526 put him just 0.039 seconds in front of Salih Yoluc in the No. 90 TF Sport entry.

Fourth went to John Falb in the No. 30 Duqueine Team car, ahead of George Kurtz in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR car that is the nearest rival to 99 Racing in the standings heading into the final two races of the season.

Al Harthy also scored pole for Sunday’s second race on the basis of his second-best lap, a 1:41:313, while Yoluc was second with a 1:41.677. Roda was third-fastest ahead of Falb and Kurtz.

In LMP3, pole went to the No. 17 Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Alexander Bukhanstov, who set the car’s best lap of 1:48.499.

Bretton Racing’s Julien Gerbi was second on a 1:48.905, while Audunn Gudmundsson was third for High Class Racing courtesy of his best lap of 1:50.258.

The order on second-fastest laps was similar, with Bukhanstov leading Gerbi, but with Nick Adcock third in the No. 2 CD Sport car.

GetSpeed took a 1-2 in the GT qualifying session, as Anthony Liu took the top spot in the No. 7 Almanar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Liu’s best time of 1:52.673 compared to a 1:52.939 for his opposite number in the sister No. 9 car, Martin Konrad. However, on second-fastest times, the order was reversed, with Konrad leading Liu to take pole for Sunday’s race.

Completing the top five were the No. 98 Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Marco Pulcini, the No. 91 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Alex Malykhin and the No. 69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of James Cottingham.

Malykhin was third on second-fastest times followed by Pulcini and Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahim in the No. 88 Triple Eight Mercedes.

The session was interrupted by a major crash for the No. 43 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Florian Scholze, who hit the barriers hard exiting the final corner, bringing out the red flags.

Scholze was uninjured in the impact, but it appears unlikely the No. 43 car will take part in Saturday’s race, which kicks off at 3 p. m. local time (6 a. m. ET).

Results: Qualifying