Avon Tyres British GT Championship leaders Ahmad Al Harthy and Michael Caine will begin round three of the season at Rockingham later today, Monday, 5th May, from the third row of the grid after posting the sixth fastest time in qualifying at the Northamptonshire venue.

With each of the Oman Racing Team drivers allocated a 15-minute period in which to post their best times, the fastest laps of each were then combined to determine the starting position of the No.4 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

Ahmad’s quickest lap, 1m24.224 seconds, was just a single tenth of a second shy of Caine’s best and with both drivers so evenly matched the combined time of 2m48.360 seconds equated to sixth on the grid for the first two-hour race of the British GT campaign – just 0.3 seconds shy of the front row.

Notably, 32-year-old Ahmad was the fastest driver in his group which bodes very well for his stint in round three at the wheel of the Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Tourism, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Nawras, National Bank of Oman and Al Hashar Group/Aston Martin Oman-supported car.

“We managed to do a decent job with the combined qualifying, my lap time was the best I’d done all weekend so I’m pretty happy with where we are on the grid”, said the Omani, “I’m pleased with how we’ve taken the car forward and really happy with the set-up we’ve been working on.

“Rockingham is completely different to Oulton Park, so we’re expecting a harder race than we had during the first round. I’m always confident, though, and I know our race performance will be strong so I’m really looking forward to seeing what Michael and I can achieve.”

Going into the Bank Holiday weekend’s race at Rockingham’s International Super Sportscar ‘Long’ Circuit, Ahmad and team-mate Caine hold a one point lead at the top of the British GT standings after a memorable victory and a seventh place finish at Oulton Park last month. The Oman Racing Team, meanwhile, also heads the team championship.

Round three of the 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship season will get underway at 13.55 (UK time) this afternoon, Monday, 5th May.

Provisional 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship Driver Standings (after Rd2):

1st Ahmad Al Harthy & Michael Caine, 31pts

Provisional 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship Team Standings (after Rd2):

1st Oman Racing Team, 31pts