Dan Harper Crowned 2025 IMSA Endurance Cup Champion With Petit Le Mans Victory
BMW M Motorsport works driver Dan Harper has enjoyed a dream end to the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, winning the prestigious Motul Petit Le Mans to be crowned the 2025 Michelin Endurance Cup champions alongside team-mate Max Hesse.
A truly sensational performance in the season finale at Road Atlanta this past weekend (09-11 October) saw Paul Miller Racing trio Harper, Hesse and Connor De Phillippi convert pole position into a supreme drive to victory through the classic ten-hour race.
The result ensures Harper ends his maiden IMSA campaign with a brilliant record of two GTD PRO pole positions, two class victories and two further podium finishes, plus a first title success alongside long-time team-mate Hesse in the Endurance Cup. The championship-within-a-
The ultra-talented duo headed into Petit Le Mans with a four-point deficit in the Endurance Cup to the sister Paul Miller Racing crew of De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen and Madison Snow. For Petit Le Mans, a unique situation saw De Phillippi sharing driving time in both of the BMW M4 GT3 EVO’s across the event.
After enjoying a productive maiden test at Road Atlanta earlier in the month, Harper hit the ground running in the race event as he impressively went fastest of all in the competitive GTD PRO class in free practice one. That positive pace continued for the #48 crew through the two other sessions. Their efforts culminated in a sensational qualifying performance from Harper. For the second IMSA event in a row, the Northern Irishman charged to the top of the timesheets to secure the MOTUL Pole Award again and put them in prime position for the start of the race.
Harper was back behind the wheel as the race began and produced a great opening 90-minute stint. Only dropping out of the lead as the order shuffled by pitstop strategies, he set a fast pace throughout and built a good foundation for his team-mates to progress from. De Phillippi was next in and the experienced American racer moved them back into the lead just past the three-hour mark. Hesse then took over and maintained their advantage through the midway point of the race and as the darkness fell over Braselton, Georgia.
Harper jumped back in the cockpit for the final two and a half hours of the race. Once the GTD PRO field eventually completed their final pitstops and the alternative strategies had played out, the #48 BMW was running in second position behind a rival Corvette. The 24-year-old talent quickly hunted down the gap to the opposition though and pulled off a superb overtaking move through the opening sequence of corners. From there, he pulled clear of the pack over the last hour of racing to complete a tremendous charge to the race victory and title glory.
Harper’s success in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup means that he’s now won a GT3 title in three consecutive seasons. He was previously crowned the overall champion in the 2023 British GT Championship and the Bronze class champion in the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.
Dan Harper: “It’s absolutely fantastic to end the season like this, with two pole positions in a row, the podium in Indianapolis and now the victory in Petit Le Mans. To finish as the Endurance Cup champions with Max is incredible and an achievement we’re all very proud of. It’s been a huge learning curve this season, adapting to a new team, a new championship and a lot of new circuits. It’s been a pleasure to take on this challenge alongside Max, with the great support of Jesse [Krohn], Augusto [Farfus] and Connor [De Phillippi] in the longer endurance races. The Paul Miller Racing team have done a great job all season and we ended on a high with our best overall showing of the year in Petit Le Mans. The team performance was superb with the car setup, pitstops and the strategy. Everyone came together to get a really special victory.
To finish fourth overall in the championship and win the Endurance Cup is a result we can be very happy with, especially in mine and Max’s first IMSA campaigns. I’ve loved racing in North America this year and hopefully I’ll get the chance to do it again some time.”
Images from BMW M Sport
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