DAN Harper believes his breakthrough victory in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe with ROWE Racing over the weekend represents another milestone moment in his career as a BMW M Motorsport driver.
Harper pulled off the defining winning during his stint – and the team’s second – at a sun-kissed Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday afternoon to help set up a resounding 13.519-second victory from the Iron Lynx-supported Lamborghini Huracan EVO2 of Mirko Bortolotti, Matteo Cairoli and Andrea Caldarelli.
It came on lap 43 of the season opener as he moved his BMW M4 GT3 up the inside of Italian Caldarelli at Turn 9, much to the delight of his team-mates Max Hesse and Augusto Farfus back in the team garage.
The 23-year-old was forced to stick his elbows out through Turns 10, 11 and 12 in a bid to make his car as wide as possible as Caldarelli pushed for a way past, but once the danger had subsided, he pulled clear to open up a five second lead for Hesse who took over to cement the result following the driver switchover.
With a maximum score of 25 points, Harper, Hesse and Farfus provisionally head up the drivers’ table, while ROWE Racing has stolen an early march in the Endurance Cup team standings.
“I am absolutely delighted with the result,” said Harper, on what was his half century appearance in a GT3-spec car in all competitions. “We all know that this is such a competitive Championship and to get this breakthrough win is a big moment for me and for everyone involved with the team.
“ROWE Racing did a brilliant job all weekend and the car was absolutely flying. I loved my stint, hunting down the leader, making the move for the lead and then pulling the gap, it felt amazing.
“It was a real team effort. Augusto made a brilliant start to gain the positions from fifth on the grid and get us in the top three, and then Max did a perfect job to bring it home and get the win.
“It is a very special feeling to win the season opener after we were second in Monza last year – just fantastic,” added Harper.
“It was a great way to start the year together. We worked incredibly well together, had no problems, and all three of us were happy with the driving feel in the car.”
Round two of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe is on the weekend of June 28/29 when the competition switches to the Nürburgring in Germany – a track Harper is very familiar with having competed there multiple times and won as part of the Nürburgring Endurance Series with BMW.
Ahead of it, ROWE Racing’s Team Principal is anticipating more silverware for his young trio.
“Dan and Max have proved that they are no longer juniors but first‑class and fully‑fledged BMW M factory drivers,” said Hans-Peter Naundorf.
“All three did a perfect job at Circuit Paul Ricard: they drove cleverly, and superbly implemented the strategy.”