Dan Harper Celebrates Incredible Rolex 24 At Daytona Victory
BMW M Motorsport works driver Dan Harper has secured the biggest win of his endurance racing career to date, celebrating victory in the 2026 Rolex 24 at Daytona on his return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (21-25 January).
Harper produced an exemplary performance as part of a remarkable comeback drive from the Paul Miller Racing BMW crew. They charged through from the back of the class grid to a momentous GTD PRO class victory in the 64th running of the prestigious event.
The Northern Irishman, who won IMSA’s Michelin Endurance Cup title last year, secured Daytona success alongside long-time team-mate Max Hesse, their 2025 Petit Le Mans winning partner Connor De Phillipi and former BMW Junior Team stablemate Neil Verhagen.
Preparations for the race began with the official ‘Roar before the Rolex 24’ testing event the week prior (16-18 January). The talented quartet made good progress in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO over the three days, shaping up well in the ultra-competitive 15-car GTD PRO class entry.
After an opening practice session in race week, Verhagen took the reins for qualifying. A brilliant performance saw him go second quickest in GTD PRO, however there was heartbreak post-session as an unfortunate technical infringement led to them being put to the back of the class grid.
They bounced back with a positive showing in the remaining practice sessions though, with calculated tweaks to the car setup helping get them in a good window for the race start. While they faced an uphill battle from the rear of the field, it was all to play for over 24 hours of competition.
Verhagen began the race behind the wheel of the #1 BMW and enjoyed a superb start, charging forward from 15th on the grid to fifth place within the opening hour. Hesse followed and consolidated their top six standing, before Harper jumped in for his opening stint.
It was a baptism of fire for the former British GT champion, who had only completed a couple of shakedown laps across practice and therefore saw his first flying laps since testing come in race conditions. He was up to the challenge though, remaining fifth as he raced through sunset.
Great stints from each of the four drivers as night running began meant they had climbed into podium contention when dense fog engulfed the circuit. This led to the longest caution period in Rolex 24 at Daytona history, with limited visibility leading to yellow flags flying for six and a half hours.
Fortunately, sunrise produced an improvement to visibility and racing finally restarted with just over six hours left on the clock. Some car maintenance late in the caution period meant the #1 BMW took the restart in 11th position with Verhagen behind the wheel.
The American racer quickly rose up the ranks again and handed the car over to Hesse in the top six, with his efforts then moving them back into the podium fight. Harper was in control for the final two and a half hours of the race and went on to produce a faultless display.
Playing a starring role in some thrilling wheel-to-wheel action in the GTD PRO ranks, the 25-year-old’s efforts combined with brilliant strategy from the Paul Miller Racing team ensured that when they completed their final pitstop, they were in the class lead.
Despite the additional challenge of his pit-to-car radio cutting out for the final hour, Harper produced a remarkably composed and consistent drive to bring the BMW to victory lane amid emotional celebrations from his team-mates and the Paul Miller Racing crew.
Dan Harper: “I can’t believe it! It’s an incredible feeling to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona, one of the ‘big four’ endurance races in the world, on our second attempt. We faced a big challenge starting from the back of the grid, but we didn’t stop believing we could do it and executed a brilliant race.
“We got off to a great start, climbing up from 15th on the grid into podium contention within a few hours. I really had to hit the ground running in my first stint, doing my first flying laps in almost a week, and it was great to get into a rhythm in both the day and night.
“The long caution period was surreal, but we used it to our advantage, giving me and Max the chance to get a proper rest so we could give it everything we had in the final few hours. My team-mates did a brilliant job and set me up with the opportunity to bring home a big result.
“The last three hours were so intense, especially the last hour when the radio stopped working. We had chosen to short fuel a bit to get the track position and then I couldn’t hear my engineer saying what numbers I needed to hit with the energy to make it to the end.
“I had to do some calculations myself whilst driving to make sure we could get to the line, as well as maintain the gap to the Mercedes behind so they didn’t get a chance to attack. I couldn’t make any mistakes and it was a chaotic hour, so I’ve never been so happy to see a chequered flag.
“A huge thank you to everyone at Paul Miller Racing and BMW M Motorsport. The team had to make some big strategy calls in the caution period and the final six hours, and they were faultless. Max, Neil and Connor were exceptional too and I’m delighted we could all celebrate this success together.”
Harper now returns to the Middle East for the final two rounds of his 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series campaign with Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Team WRT. He’ll race at the Dubai Autodrome (31 January-01 February) and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi (07-08 February).