IMSA season debutant Dan Harper felt glad to take his maiden GTD Pro class race victory in the Six Hours of the Glen for Paul Miller Racing.
The BMW works driver won in the GTD Pro category in the #48 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 Evo with his team-mate Max Hesse.
Harper kept within distance of the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at the start, even though a sudden, heavy rain shower swept the Watkins Glen circuit.
In the second hour, Harper incurred a 60-second stop-and-go penalty for running the red light at the pit exit.
Nevertheless, the race’s seven caution periods meant the #48 BMW kept within regular sight of the GTD Pro leaders throughout.
“I was trying to keep cool in very hot conditions,” said Harper on the hectic six-hour enduro.
“Obviously, I admit the little error at the beginning of the race that cost us the penalty.
“I was just glad we were able to make up for it, to be honest.
“I said to the team I wanted to finish the race to try and make up for it.
“Max did the hard work in the middle of the race to get us back to the front.
“The team also did a great job… The pit stops were bang on, good fuel strategy.
“Great to pull it off and get our first win. It’s just amazing.
“We’ve had pace through every race, maybe [in] Detroit we struggled a bit.
“We’ve just sort of been waiting for that moment to get a big win or a big result. We finally got it.
“So hopefully that can kick-start the second half of the year and we can climb our way back into the championship.”
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