Exclusive: Dan Harper on his debut WEC season, Le Mans, grand slam hopes and more!
- Owen Bradley
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Dan Harper is one of Britain's most promising Sportscar drivers in the modern era. The 25-year old is a British GT Champion, and is currently in his debut season of the World Endurance Championship with BMW. Harper took an extraordinary victory in his first WEC race in the LMGT3 class, winning at Imola.
The Brit also took a victory earlier this season at IMSA's 24 Hours of Daytona, racing with BMW. Harper has quickly become one of the most prominent names in the paddock, with a glittering junior career and numerous stand-out performances in 2026 - He is one of the most promising drivers in Sportscar racing.
DIVEBOMB's Owen Bradley sat down with Dan Harper to speak about his season so far, his career, future aspirations, completing the Sportscar grand slam and dealing with the pressure of being teammates with MotoGP legend, Valentino Rossi.
Speaking on his 2026 season, Harper stated: "We've had a lot of success, Daytona was incredible. We had the chance last year to get a good result, but we had a bit of misfortune there, so to do it this year and in the circumstances it was, was really special.
He continued: "I also had very good success in Asia Le Mans at the start of the season, we just narrowly missed out on the championship in the last race. Won the first round of the WEC, my debut in WEC, in Imola, so that was very special. Nürburgring, we were very competitive, unfortunately just missed out on the podium, but we've had a very strong start to the year and I just hope it continues."
Harper's 2026 racing calendar is hectic, racing in a variety of different championships. With so many different spinning plates, it means that each championship comes with it's own expectations and targets.
When asked about his goals for the remainder of the 2026 season, Harper said: "I'm only joining GT World for the Endurance rounds, so there's a bit less on that side for me. My full programme in WEC, there's still a lot to go there, Le Mans is coming up, it's the next big one, that will be my first time in Le Mans, I'm absolutely buzzing for that one.
He added: "I've heard so many good things, and obviously it's quite clear to see it's one of the biggest, if not the biggest motorsport event in the world, so to be a part of it will be very special, and I think we have a package that can win to be honest. Of course, so much needs to go together and go into place, but we definitely have a chance. Also Spa is one of the highlights, the highlight of the GT World Challenge, and normally our BMW is pretty strong there, so I think we can have two strong 24-hour races back-to-back, and the rest of the year will just go like that!"
The 25-year old has already accomplished many different feats at such a young age, becoming a British GT Champion in 2023, winning at Daytona and becoming a Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion back in 2019. Harper is on a meteoric rise through the ranks.
In 2026, the Brit has been partnered with MotoGP legend, Valentino Rossi, in the No.46 Team WRT BMW for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. Rossi has brought a huge amount of attention to the GTWC in recent seasons, and with more eyeballs, comes more expectations and pressure on everyone at Team WRT and particularly inside the No.46 garage.
Talking about being teammates with Rossi, and the additional pressure upon the No.46 BMW, Harper stated: "His character, the way I've seen him in his interviews in his MotoGP career, it's the Vale I know - that's just him. That's actually my favourite thing about him, he fully makes everything easy because he's genuine and very chilled out. Especially with his fans, as long as they're not going crazy, he's very happy to go and sign some autographs. That makes it very easy for us."
Harper has also worked closely with his other GTWC Endurance teammate, Max Hesse. The pair were part of the line-up that won earlier this year at Daytona, and have spent several years working together across numerous different races and championships.
With the partnership eliciting multiple wins, being teammates has proven to be hugely successful for both of them, who have also enjoyed great success apart from one another as well.
When asked why he believes the partnership works so well, Harper said: "When you've been working with a person for so long, so closely, you just come together as one person almost. There's times where you drive with someone different maybe, and you know they will do the job, but you still have maybe some doubt, but with Max, I just know it's going to be fine and that relaxes you, and the more relaxed you are, the better you perform, so I think it works very well."
Harper holds a busy racing schedule, competing in championships across the world, all year long. In the winter months, the Brit was competing in the Asian Le Mans Series, and in late January was racing in IMSA's 24 Hours of Daytona.
Speaking about racing in several championships all in one season, he said: "This is my first experience of the WEC, which has been probably the biggest difference in terms of the way the championship works. The first FIA series for me, and they're a bit more strict with certain things, there's different rules compared to other championships. Also driving around with Hypercars, that's very different for example.
He added: "The way that the WEC have sort of slowed the LMGT3's down, makes those closing speeds even greater, so you have to be really wary of the Hypercars coming. For me, that was the biggest change. In the GTWC, we've done it now for four or five years, and so you know what to expect there. IMSA last year was the same thing, a lot of learning, different tyres which is always something you need to adjust to on the weekend, they always react differently, maybe sometimes you have tyre warmers, sometimes no tyre warmers, so you constantly have to adjust.
He continued: "Now, I think I've done all of the 'big' championships, let's say, apart from DTM - and they're all very small differences. You also know some of the faces in the paddock, the teams are all such a high level, you can always trust the teams. You know the drivers who you are racing against week in, week out, so I would say it's just about adjusting to the small rule changes in each series."
The WEC uses Goodyear as its' tyre supplier for the LMGT3 class, whereas the GTWC uses Pirelli, and IMSA use Michelin. Racing with different tyre manufacturers across the season means that a driver needs to adapt to three different styles of tyre. Some tyres can burn out far quicker than others, and some tyres take longer to heat up and get into their optimal window of performance.
Harper has already proven to be a highly adaptive driver in GT machinery, adapting to each of these tyre manufacturers, taking a victory in every single championship and subsequently with all three styles of tyres.
The Brit has also driven BMW GT machinery throughout the 2020's, which may have assisted with adapting to various championships and tyres, as the car remains similar and familiar for the driver.
Speaking about wanting to win a specific race, Harper said: "I would say to win the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, also Le Mans and I've always said since I started to go the GT racing route, I said I would love to win the four 24-hour races. At the start of my career, the guy who really guided me at the beginning was Nick Tandy, who's recently become one of the only guys to have won all four in the top class, so that's something where I need to beat him! I can't just let him be the one to do it!"
The four major 24-hour races consist of, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Nick Tandy has won each of these races in their top class, completing the 'Grand Slam' of Sportscar racing.
Asked whether he will likely end up competing in WEC's top class, Hypercar, Harper stated: "Of course. I'm young, but I've also got quite a lot of experience now, considering how young I am. At some point, I think it will happen if I keep performing well, but there's so much we need to achieve in the GT's, so if the opportunity came tomorrow, for sure I would take it, but at the same time if I had another year, or two years or more - There's still a lot we need to finish off in GT's."
Whilst Harper has earned so much success from a plethora of Sportscar series, he has not done it alone. In every Sportscar race, drivers must share the car with a teammate, which leads to some teams having four drivers in one car throughout a race.
When drivers move teams, sometimes they have to work with former rivals. The same situation can also happen in the opposite way, with some former teammates going on to become on-track rivals.
Speaking about how he negotiates this unique dynamic of teammates in Sportscar racing, Harper revealed: "Since I joined BMW, I was a junior driver and I sort of felt a bit intimidated, around these big stars when I'm just a junior driver, but straight away they made me feel comfortable, and I think that's now the same when younger guys are coming up now, or guys coming in from different manufacturers, we all want the same thing, we all want to win.
He added: "It doesn't matter if myself and Max won, or myself and Jordan, or with Marciello, it doesn't really matter because we all want to win, and win for BMW, so we all have the same dream and then we work together as best as we can for that. Of course, there's different personalities, maybe you get on better with some off the track than others, but when it comes to the racing, we're all focused and will help each other to perform the best."
Some of the most successful drivers in motorsport have been able to adapt not only to machinery, but to having different teammates, switching teams themselves, and a variety of factors. This is especially poignant in Sportscar racing, as adaptability and versatility are some of the most key factors for a Sportscar driver.
When asked if he would change anything about his career so far, Harper revealed: "At certain times, you think about your performance, maybe you could have done something better. Looking back, the Ginetta Juniors was probably the point where I thought I should've or could've won. Obviously, you could've, should've would've - But, I think if I had just done a couple of little things minorly different, I could've won. But, you always learn and I learned a lot from that time, with the guys I was racing, it's all brought me to where I am today so you always have to think about the positives."
Harper finished third in the Ginetta Juniors standings back in 2017, claiming seven race wins and 15 podiums from 26 races. The Brit was just 17 years old at the time.
Dan Harper will be racing this month in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the 24 Hours of Spa across the World Endurance Championship and the GT World Challenge Europe.
Special thanks to Dan Harper and to Team WRT for helping to organise this interview.
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