Snow dampens season start for flyer Harper

31 March 2021

HEAVY snow put paid to Annahilt driver Daniel Harper’s start to the new motor racing season in Germany at the weekend.

Highflying Harper had planned to start his second season in the BMW Junior Team before heavy snow hit the Nürburgring Nordschleife on Saturday.

Harper (20) was hoping to build on the progress made last year as a step up to the highest class in modern GT racing.

“It would have been nice to get the season underway and the first race in the BMW M6 GT3 under our belts, but it’s the Nürburgring and you can never predict the weather. It’s a shame to miss out on racing this time, but we still got some good testing under our belts.” said Harper.

Harper did have an opportunity to test his new car on the world-famous Nordschleife at last Friday’s open practice session, driving ten laps throughout the day.

“Friday was only our second proper test day in the car, and our first on the Nordschleife, so it was a steep learning curve,” he continued.

“Dry weather gave us perfect conditions to learn the track again in the car, with aspects like the cornering speeds and braking points being completely different to last year.”

Alongside his team-mates Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen, Harper continues to race in the Nürburgring Endurance Series, which includes a 28 car GT3 entry line-up as part of a 146 car field.

He added: “The front-running GT3 drivers have so much experience around the track, so we know it’s going to take a while to build up to their pace, but we all showed good speed on Friday so we’re confident we’re starting from a strong position to build on in the next couple of rounds.”

Unfortunately the event was cancelled the following day after just one lap due to worsening weather conditions.

However, it was not all doom and gloom for the promising racer as he shared his new ‘blue rocket’ M6 GT3 with BMW Team RMG and works driver Augusto Farfus.

“Having Augusto with us is a huge help, as he’s very experienced with the car and the track, so the perfect person to learn from,” Daniel continued.

“Team RMG were fantastic too, so a huge thank you to them and to BMW Motorsport for the opportunity. I can’t wait for the next race.”

The second round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series is scheduled for April 17.

However it is currently unknown when the opening race will be rescheduled.

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