Dan Harper Sees GTWC Podium Hopes Slip Away At Monza

BMW M Motorsport works driver Dan Harper saw a brilliant charge forward into podium contention go cruelly unrewarded during the penultimate round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Monza this past weekend (21-22 September).

Returning to the scene of his first-ever GT World Challenge Europe podium finish last year, Harper and his ROWE Racing team-mates Max Hesse and Augusto Farfus headed to the iconic Italian circuit hoping to recapture the form that saw them win the 2024 season opener at Paul Ricard.
After a tricky start in testing on Thursday, hard work from the ROWE Racing team resolved some issues with the Multibank Group-backed BMW M4 GT3 and resulted in a more competitive performance on Saturday, which concluded with them finishing pre-qualifying sixth fastest overall.

Farfus was behind the wheel for what proved to be a chaotic start to the race. As incidents played out in front and behind him, the experienced Brazilian survived contact from behind through the first chicane and was able to emerge with four positions gained in sixth place. After a safety car period, Farfus comfortably maintained their top six position through to the opening pitstop window, when Harper took over. After settling into fifth position, he gained a place when a driver ahead went off circuit and then started to put the #96 Porsche in third under intense pressure.
A pair of lengthy safety car periods limited his challenge, but in-between them the 23-year-old talent was able to pull off an audacious overtake on the Porsche. Sending it around the outside at the first chicane, he moved up to what had become second place on the road due to another car making a pitstop. The team were confident of maintaining a challenge for the podium as Hesse took over for the final stint, however an unfortunate mix-up during the pitstop meant there was a loose wheel on their BMW M4 GT3, forcing them to make another stop to fix the issue. Dropping off the lead lap in the process, the German racer was left to bring the car home outside of the points in 27th overall. The points lost in the process have effectively ruled the #998 crew out of Endurance Cup title contention, having been on course to outscore a number of their leading rivals.

Daniel Harper: “I’m gutted. We were on course for a good haul of points and possibly a podium finish, but it’s one of those races that just got away from us. It’s a shame as Augusto had done a great job to avoid the chaos at the start and between us we had climbed into the fight for the top three. We had struggled all weekend getting the car in the right window, particularly switching the tyres on at the front, but we made a good step forward for the race and it felt fast. Overtaking is notoriously difficult at Monza, but we managed to make progress and I enjoyed my move on the Porsche.
It’s disappointing to not see that progress get the result it deserved, but that’s how motorsport plays out sometimes and we’ll use this as extra motivation to go and end the season on a high in Jeddah.”

Two rounds remain of the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe season. The Sprint Cup finale takes place at Barcelona next month (11-13 October), with Harper and Darren Leung holding the Bronze class points lead with two races remaining, before the Endurance Cup closer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (28-30 November).