Dan Harper thrilled to see gamble pay off after clinching second Silverstone success
A one-off appearance at round two of the 2025 British GT Championship was rewarded with a hard-fought win for the Paradine Competition duo at the Northamptonshire venue.
Starting fifth, they placed their faith in an unconventional driver changeover strategy that relied on safety car periods and Full Course Yellows coming to their rescue, and not being held up by back markers, or those competitors taking part in slower GT4 machinery.
The approach left them out of sequence with the rest of the GT3 field and meant Harper had to play catch-up for most of his stint.
However, the 24-year-old produced yet another trademark driving masterclass, and with 26 minutes remaining, he moved into the lead as Kiern Jewiss served a drive-through penalty in his 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG.
A nail-biting game of cat and mouse ensued, with Harper having to go on the defensive in his BMW M4 GT3 Evo in an effort to thwart Jewiss and his barrage of overtake manoeuvres.
Despite being nose to tail as they started the final 3.661-mile lap, Harper did just enough to take the chequered flag first – by six-tenths of a second – and spark wild celebrations.
'The strategy was a gamble at the beginning – but we had seen in qualifying and Darren's opening stint that we weren't going to win this race on pace alone, so had to try something different,' reflected Harper, who returns to action at Laguna Seca in under a fortnight's time.
'The guys made that decision and it didn't always look like it was going to pay off, but we got some luck in our favour, which is something you will always need in a race like this.
'I knew it was Kiern behind me, and having raced with him during our Ginetta days, I was fully aware of what he is capable of.
'I know how good he is, so I was really under pressure.
'The guys in the garage were updating me every lap on the gap – I could see him coming.
'I was just praying that the GT4 cars would be kind to me – and on this occasion they were.
'I knew I just had to make the car as wide as possible whenever he got close to me,' he added.
'I think the BMW's strength is its ability to defend against other cars and first was not something I was going to give up easily.'
Meanwhile, Chris Smiley opened his Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship account at Donington Park in strong fashion by scoring Independent wins in races two and three having brought his Restart Racing Hyundai home 10th overall earlier in the day.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Belfast Telegraph
21 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Dan Harper reveals what he must do to get back in SportsCar Championship fight
Hopes of solid points-scoring finishes at the previous two rounds at Laguna Seca and Detroit were scuppered when the BMW M4 GT3 Evo Harper co-drives with Max Hesse incurred drive-through time penalties. Those setbacks have left the Paul Miller Racing team-mates on the backfoot in the GTD Pro class and find themselves having to play catch-up in the title fight. After four rounds, they are sixth in the standings (1,128 points) — 170 shy of AO Racing Porsche's Klaus Bachler and Laurin Heinrich. A recent test at Saturday's 3.41-mile, 11-turn venue, has given Harper cause to be optimistic. 'It is a really cool track and one I immediately enjoyed as I got to grips with it,' reflected Harper. 'The way the BMW felt at the test, I really think the track should suit the car this weekend — we seemed to be quite competitive compared to all the other teams that were out there. 'Fingers crossed it will be a good weekend for us because after Laguna Seca and Detroit, we need to get back on the right path in the Championship by finishing on the podium again. 'We need to go out and score some big points,' continued the 24-year-old. 'We have fallen behind a bit, so we really need a good run of results in the next few races.' A total of 56 cars are entered – and in the case of GTD Pro, Harper and Hesse make up a 10-strong field. 'I have been enjoying the challenge of IMSA,' said Harper. 'We have been a competitive force from the start, but have had some bad luck and made a couple of small mistakes so far. We need to move on from those and have a clean second half of the year.'
Top Gear
a day ago
- Top Gear
Good news, Assetto Corsa Competizione racers: 'We're not done yet,' says Kunos
Good news, Assetto Corsa Competizione racers: 'We're not done yet,' says Kunos The esteemed sim's developer suggests there's more content still to come Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Turn on Javascript to see all the available pictures. It's been ten months now since everyone's favourite GT3 racing sim Assetto Corsa Competizione last received a significant update, and with developer Kunos Simulazioni hard at work on a new title, Assetto Corsa Evo, ACC's future has become murkier than Red Bull's second seat. But there's a glimmer of hope for the community, which still hits over 4,300 players per day, six years after release. Just a glimmer, mind you. Advertisement - Page continues below The game's official Instagram account responded to a comment on a post announcing the BMW M4 GT3 in AC Evo which proclaimed 'ACC is abandoned'. In reply, Kunos wrote: 'We're not done with ACC yet, keep giving us the feedback.' Nothing concrete, then, but it's an encouraging rumbling noise that suggests there may be further updates to the sim. With Evo still in Steam Early Access development and not yet close to completion, it's not clear whether all the GT3 content and features will migrate over to the new game verbatim. Advertisement - Page continues below Top Gear Newsletter Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. Success Your Email*
Auto Blog
2 days ago
- Auto Blog
2026 BMW M3 Pricing Revealed
2026 M3 Gets Away With Relatively Small Increase The current tensions surrounding the ongoing tariff deliberations and revisions are causing German automakers to sweat. Although BMW has been doing its best to keep consequent price adjustments from impacting its customers' wallets, there's only so much that can be done while still keeping shareholders happy. After all, BMW is a business and needs to turn a profit. And when shoppers are already forking out over $100k with all the options for the current M3, a $2,380 increase across the range (compared to the launch price) isn't anything to loosen one's collar over. If you're one of those individuals, the configurator for the 2026 model year will soon go live, and it's always plenty of fun to play with. If not, read on, and we'll break the new pricing down. The 2026 BMW M3 Still Sneaks In Below $80k That's right. For the new model year, that $2,380 price bump means a base MSRP of $78,400, according to a pricing guide obtained by Bimmer Post. If you want the added bragging rights that come with the M3 Competition, however, you'll pay at least $82,600. And if you want the extra power that is now offered by the M xDrive-fitted M3 Competition, you'll be forking over a minimum of $87,700. Before you even think about options, you need to add the automaker's destination and handling fee of $1,175 to the equation. That's actually come down from the 2025 model, which was set at $1,195. Here's the overall difference with respective destination charges applied: Model 2024 Price 2025 Price Difference M3 $77,195 $79,575 +$2,380 M3 Competition $81,395 $83,775 +$2,380 M3 Competition w/ M xDrive $86,495 $88,875 +$2,380 Optional Packages Can Push Final Price Near $120K To complete the aggressive look, you may want to take a look at the Carbon Package, adding another $15,300 for the regular M3 and $14,300 for Competition variants. That does not include the carbon bucket seats you get as standard in a CS-badged Bimmer, so set aside another $4,500. If you really want to impress BMW fanatics, consider the gold brake calipers, because those indicate $8,500 carbon-ceramics. To unlock the full capabilities of your new M3, tick the box marked 'M Driver's Package' for $2,500, moving the speed limiter's needle from 155 mph to 180. Tick all those boxes (and choose a plain color inside and out), and you'll just sneak in below $120,000. 2026 BMW M3 Production Begins Very Soon So why isn't the configurator live just yet if pricing guides are becoming available? Well, BMW is only expected to begin production of U.S.-bound 2026 M3 sedans in July, and the pricing guide gives its dealers a heads-up, allowing them to plan their pricing strategies for the coming month. In the meantime, Bimmer Post has full pdf documents of both the new pricing guide and the ordering guide, so if you intend on reserving a special optional extra that will add to your build time, head over to your nearest BMW dealer soon and put your name down. Alternatively, wait until the 2026 models hit the lots and take advantage of deals and incentives on low-mileage and unsold 2025 models. Those should come in considerably cheaper, and any opportunity to get over 500 horsepower and an iconic badge is worth considering. Oops! We're unable to load this content right now. View directly on Instagram About the Author Sebastian Cenizo View Profile
