BMW M Motorsport works driver Dan Harper narrowly missed out on a podium finish after brilliant comeback drive to fourth position in the 2026 ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (14-17 May).
After being spun back to 43rd position just five corners in to the race, Harper and his team-mates Max Hesse, Sheldon Van Der Linde and Dries Vanthoor produced a spirited performance to charge their way through the field and almost secure a podium finish with defending champions ROWE Racing.
For Harper, this was his sixth time contesting the most challenging endurance race in the world around the legendary 15.77-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife. His last attempt came in 2024, when he finished third for his first overall podium finish in the race.
The Northern Irishman enjoyed positive preparations for the 54th running of the endurance classic, securing his fifth overall GT3 victory on the Nordschleife in NLS 2 back in March. He got back up to speed with the circuit during the opening two qualifying sessions of the event on Thursday.
Friday was all about securing the best grid position possible for the race. Some bad luck in the second top qualifying session meant the #99 BMW M4 GT3 EVO unfortunately didn’t make it through to the final pole position shootout, resulting in 18th position on the grid for the race.
The team knew a big performance would be needed to fight forward into podium contention, and their task was made even tougher by a nightmare first lap. Despite leaving plenty of space on his inside around the Dunlop-Kehre hairpin, two bouts of contact from a rival car spun him around.
Despite being left prone across the circuit, the rest of the SP9 (GT3) field were just about able to avoid the BMW and Harper was able to continue, albeit now in 43rd position. Fired up from the incident, he immediately set about making up lost ground and was into the top 30 within the first hour.
Hesse, Van Der Linde and then Vanthoor continued their forward progress through to the quarter-distance mark, staying out of trouble in changing weather conditions that caught out a number of their SP9 rivals. Their efforts meant they were into the top 10 battle when Harper returned to the cockpit.
The 25-year-old talent took the reins for the run through sunset. An impressive performance saw him climb up to third overall past the #34 Aston Martin, kicking off a duel between the two cars that continued all the way to the chequered flag.
After great stints from his team-mates through the night, Harper continued their challenge at sunrise. Surviving a scary moment as he caught a patch of oil on circuit, the former British GT champion kept them in the top six overall and ensured their podium aspirations remained with seven hours to go.
A faultless performance from the ROWE Racing ensured their BMW didn’t skip a beat as they raced to the chequered flag. Despite their best efforts to get at least one position higher, they had to settle for fourth position as they crossed the line, having completed 156 laps of the fearsome Nordschleife.
While they didn’t get the silverware they hoped for, fourth still marked a fantastic result after the opening lap drama. It was also an important result for BMW too, as the #99 crew finished second of the Intercontinental GT Challenge entrants to secure the manufacturer a crucial haul of championship points.
Dan Harper: “All in all, I think we can be very happy. We didn’t get the best start to the race, getting spun around on the first lap despite doing everything I could to stay out of trouble. It happens though and we were very lucky not to be collected and come away with no damage. I enjoyed that first stint, fighting my way back through. I think we recovered quite well and from that point, the race was very clean. We had one small penalty for a code 60 infringement, but apart from that we put together a perfect race with a brilliant strategy from ROWE Racing. With some tricky changing conditions, it was tough to know what tyres to be on whether slicks, cut slicks or wets, but the team made all the right calls at the right time. The drivers too, everyone kept it clean with no contact and no damage on the car, which is always tough in such a busy race. We maximised our package to the best of our ability and unfortunately, we just didn’t have the outright pace of the leading cars. We kept fighting and were up to third at one stage, but we couldn’t hold it. Still, P4 is a brilliant result in the circumstances. It was a fantastic weekend. Nürburgring is such a special place to go racing and an incredible, record-breaking crowd produced a brilliant atmosphere from Wednesday onwards. I enjoyed it a lot and I’m looking forward to hopefully being back to do it again next year.”
Harper’s 2026 season continues in two weeks’ time (30-31 May) with the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at the Temple of Speed, Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy.
images included from BMW M Motorsport
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