Dan Harper reveals what he must do to get back in SportsCar Championship fight
Hopes of solid points-scoring finishes at the previous two rounds at Laguna Seca and Detroit were scuppered when the BMW M4 GT3 Evo Harper co-drives with Max Hesse incurred drive-through time penalties.
Those setbacks have left the Paul Miller Racing team-mates on the backfoot in the GTD Pro class and find themselves having to play catch-up in the title fight. After four rounds, they are sixth in the standings (1,128 points) — 170 shy of AO Racing Porsche's Klaus Bachler and Laurin Heinrich.
A recent test at Saturday's 3.41-mile, 11-turn venue, has given Harper cause to be optimistic.
'It is a really cool track and one I immediately enjoyed as I got to grips with it,' reflected Harper. 'The way the BMW felt at the test, I really think the track should suit the car this weekend — we seemed to be quite competitive compared to all the other teams that were out there.
'Fingers crossed it will be a good weekend for us because after Laguna Seca and Detroit, we need to get back on the right path in the Championship by finishing on the podium again.
'We need to go out and score some big points,' continued the 24-year-old. 'We have fallen behind a bit, so we really need a good run of results in the next few races.'
A total of 56 cars are entered – and in the case of GTD Pro, Harper and Hesse make up a 10-strong field.
'I have been enjoying the challenge of IMSA,' said Harper.
'We have been a competitive force from the start, but have had some bad luck and made a couple of small mistakes so far. We need to move on from those and have a clean second half of the year.'
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