Posted March 19, 2025 by leonulty Motorsport

Dan Harper Stars In 12 Hours Of Sebring With Maiden IMSA Podium

BMW M Motorsport works driver Dan Harper secured a brilliant maiden podium finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a standout performance in his first attempt at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring this past weekend (13-15 March).
Following on from a hugely impressive performance on his IMSA debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona back in January, in which the Northern Irishman qualified third fastest and led his opening laps in the championship, he was full of confidence heading into another legendary US endurance race.
Alongside his team-mates Max Hesse and Jesse Krohn, Harper got to grips with the 3.74-mile circuit and its infamous bumpy surface across three free practice sessions on Thursday. The driving trio completed 93 laps between them, which included running in the day and night in preparation for Saturday’s race.
Harper was once again chosen to take the reins for the all-important qualifying session on Friday. He put in a brilliant lap to go fourth fastest in the GTD PRO class, right behind Neil Verhagen in the sister car to make it a Paul Miller Racing lockout of row two on the grid.
The 24-year-old talent was behind the wheel again for the beginning of the race and he enjoyed a great start, sweeping around the outside of the sister BMW into the first corner for third place. Setting into a good rhythm, he maintained his top three spot in the early running.
As he headed towards the conclusion of the opening hour, an unfortunate small technical issue led to an unscheduled pitstop. Keen to start regaining the lost ground, Harper produced one of his characteristic, eye-catching overtaking spells as he picked off three cars in less than ten minutes.
Harper got them back into the top six before handing over control to Krohn. The Finnish racer continued their forward momentum and was up to third place at the four-hour mark of the race, before strong pace from Hesse kept them right in the mix through mid-distance. Krohn was back in the car next and during his second stint, he moved the #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO into the GTD PRO lead on the road for the first time in the race. Harper then jumped back in determined to continue their fight for victory as the race transitioned from day to night.

After a couple of safety car periods, the 24-year-old made an immediate impact when the race went green again. A superb switchback move through turn one secured him the race lead and he put the hammer down from there, quickly building a healthy lead at the front. A consistent run of rapid laps ensured he maintained the advantage through to the end of his stint. Hesse was back in for the final sprint to the chequered flag, with the German ace embroiled in a fierce battle with the sister BMW and their Porsche rival for the victory.

As the Porsche unfortunately had the edge on speed in the closing hours, Hesse brought the car home in second place for a richly deserved first podium of the season. The #48 crew’s efforts were also rewarded with class victory in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for the race.

**Dan Harper:** “After our bad luck in Daytona we knew that we needed to get ourselves back up and running here, and we achieved that. To stand on an IMSA podium for the first time is a big moment for me and it was special to do so alongside all of the Paul Miller Racing line-up. It wasn’t the easiest start to the event on Thursday, but we worked hard to build up the speed in the car and it paid off with a good qualifying result. We were confident in our race pace and bar a couple of small issues, we consistently had one of the fastest cars in class throughout. I was happy with my performance over the race and I really enjoyed my stints, getting the chance to move forward and make some overtakes. Max and Jesse did a fantastic job as well, while the team were on top form with their strategy calls to keep us right in the mix. It’s a big result for us and the perfect way to cap off a great weekend. We got some good points on the board to claw back some of the lost ground from Daytona, and we need to keep the momentum going into the next rounds and continue climbing up the standings.”

Harper will next be in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action at the world-famous WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in eight weeks’ time (09-11 May). Prior to that though, he will make a return to the GT World Challenge Europe to start a partial campaign in that series. The Northern Irishman will be embarking on his third consecutive season racing with Darren Leung and Paradine Competition, continuing a partnership that has so far won the 2023 British GT overall and 2024 GTWC Europe Sprint Cup Bronze class championship titles.

With his IMSA commitments preventing him from contesting a full European campaign, Harper’s focus is on supporting Leung and the team in their quest to successfully defend their Bronze class honours with appearances in selected Endurance and Sprint rounds, starting at Paul Ricard in France (11-13 April).

Dan Harper: “I’m thrilled to be back with Darren and Paradine Competition for selected GT World Challenge Europe rounds this year. I love working with them and while sadly I can’t complete the full season and challenge for title success myself, I’ll do everything I can to help them fight for championship glory this season.”

The images included are from BMW M Motorsport.