BMW M Motorsport works driver Dan Harper continued his fantastic start to the 2026 race season with a brilliant class victory in the final round of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series in Abu Dhabi this past weekend (06-08 February).
Harper and his team-mates Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson returned to Abu Dhabi with momentum on their side, having picked up their maiden ALMS victory the previous weekend in Dubai and a podium finish in the 6H Abu Dhabi earlier in January.
After hitting the ground running through testing and free practice, the Team WRT squad were able to start the weekend on a strong note with McIntosh impressing in qualifying to secure fifth place on the GT grid for both of the weekend’s four-hour races.
McIntosh was behind the wheel of the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO for the start of Saturday’s race and immediately moved up to fourth on the opening lap. The American racer went on to grab third place later in his stint, before handing over to Thompson at the halfway mark of the race.
Great work from the team ensured Thompson emerged from the pitstop right in the mix for the class lead, and he soon moved to the front. His efforts meant that when Harper took over for the final hour of proceedings, he held a clear lead in the GT ranks.
The Northern Irishman went on to control the race through to the chequered flag, with a faultless drive seeing him take the win by seven seconds at the head of a Team WRT one-two. The result was the perfect way to mark the milestone 100th race of Harper’s career with BMW M Motorsport.
Sunday’s race unfortunately didn’t quite go their way however, with a lengthy red flag stoppage leading to tricky recalculations on strategy. An unfortunate miscommunication around the first driver change lost them track position and ultimately a shot at the podium, but they were able to fight back to a top ten race result and with it vice-champion honours in the final GT drivers’ points standings.
Dan Harper: “We’re delighted to bring our Asian Le Mans Series programme to a close with another race victory. Our first win together in Dubai was a great moment and to go back-to-back in the opening Abu Dhabi race was awesome.
“The whole team perfectly executed the opening race. Anthony and Parker put in clean stints on track and moved us up the order, while Team WRT nailed the strategy and pitstops. They all did the hard work and I’m pleased I could jump in and complete the job at the end.
“This Asian Le Mans season has been a real positive for us. The priority for Anthony, Parker and I was to gain experience working together and find out how to get the best from each other ahead of our FIA WEC programme, and we’ve achieved that. To finish on the podium at each event was the icing on the cake and hopefully we’ll be collecting plenty more trophies together this year.
“From a personal perspective, to get a win in my 100th race with BMW M Motorsport was a special moment. It’s been an incredible journey with them so far and I can’t thank them enough for all the opportunities they’ve provided me.”
Harper, McIntosh and Thompson will now turn their attention towards their main programme for the 2026 season, the FIA World Endurance Championship. Harper’s maiden season on the global stage begins next month with the Qatar 1812km on the Losail International Circuit (26-28 March).