Harper wins iconic Daytona 24 Hours with BMW
Max Hesse, Connor de Philippi, Dan Harper and Neil Verhagen won Daytona 24 Hours from the back of the grid
- Published
Northern Ireland's Dan Harper has won the iconic, fog-hit Daytona 24-hour race from the back of the grid.
Harper was racing in the GTD Pro class alongside Max Hesse, Neil Verhagen and Connor de Phillippi in the #1 BMW, run by Paul Miller Racing.
The car was disqualified from qualifying for a tyre infringement and was forced to start at the back of the grid.
The crew worked their way back up through the order before the race was halted for six-and-a-half hours due to increasing fog in Florida.
Racing resumed with a six-hour sprint to the finish and, after an excellent final pit stop from the Paul Miller team with just over an hour left of the race, Harper took a lead he would not relinquish.
After 24 hours of racing in Florida, the winning margin was just 2.223 seconds over the #75 Mercedes of Will Power, Kenny Habul, Chaz Mostert and Marco Engel.
"I can't believe it, what a race," Harper posted on social media after the biggest win of his career.
"It was a big challenge to try and win from the back of the grid, but the whole #1 crew produced a perfect performance and we never stopped believing we could do it.
"What an incredible feeling. Thank you to everyone involved."
Charlie Eastwood, from Northern Ireland, was in contention for victory against Harper's crew alongside IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin, Salih Yoluc and Mason Filippi but a mechanical issue on the DXPD Corvette forced them to retire from the race late on.
The endurance race is a multi-class event and takes place on a mix of the Super Speedway oval at Daytona and the infield course.
It is one of the biggest endurance races in the world, alongside the Le Mans, Nurburgring and Spa 24-hour races, and is the curtain-raiser for the racing season.
Great Britain's Jack Aitken, the USA's Connor Zilisch, Mercedes F1 test driver Frederik Vesti and Earl Bamber narrowly missed out on overall victory in the LMPD class by just 1.5 seconds to Penske Porsche driver Felipe Nasr, Laurin Heinrich and Julien Andlauer.
The race was halted overnight due to heavy fog in Florida
