Daniel in sparkling Brands Hatch form

Daniel in sparkling Brands Hatch form

10 April 2019

ANNAHILT teenager Daniel Harper made an explosive start to the racing season at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

The 18 year-old has taken the lead in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship after a superb start saw him convert pole position into a race victory.

Kicking off his second season as the Porsche GB junior driver, Harper was the man to beat at the iconic Kent circuit as he carried his stunning form from the end of last year and started the new campaign in scintillating fashion with a pair of podium finishes.

Harper headed back to the scene of his Porsche Carrera Cup GB debut 12 months ago with confidence high after a hugely positive pre-season testing programme, which included timesheet-topping performances in official tests at Donington Park and Brands Hatch.

He carried that pace into free practice on Friday and ended the day second fastest overall. With just a tenth of a second separating him from top spot, he carried plenty of momentum into qualifying the following day with the JTR team.

After dealing with a treacherous first few laps, it became clear it was the right decision and Harper took full advantage. A sensational lap of 48.431 lit up the time sheets and secured him a fourth pole position in the Carrera Cup GB by an incredible margin of over half a second.

The opening two races of the season came on Sunday and once heavy morning fog had cleared, Harper lined his IFS Global Logistics backed Porsche up on pole position determined to taste success in front of the live ITV4 television cameras and a huge trackside crowd.

Negotiating traffic caused some tricky moments for Harper in his pursuit of the chequered flag, but a composed drive saw him come through to record his third victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and the twelfth of his blossoming career so far.

The reverse grid draw for race two placed the Dromore High School student in fourth position for race two and another strong start saw him challenging for the top three at Druids on lap one, however, a slide wide unfortunately ped him to fifth.

An intelligent drive saw Harper pick his opportunities to work his way up to third place.

His determination and stunning lap times got him on to the rear wing of the car ahead with a lap to go and while he tried to force an opportunity to make a move, he unfortunately had to settle for third place at the finish.