DAN Harper’s pre-event preparations for this Saturday’s Eight Hours of Indianapolis have been severely hampered due to on-going disruptions with freight arrivals and deliveries.
Harper has been jettisoned into the United States this week as the Hillsborough driver is in with a shot at winning the Intercontinental GT Challenge with Germany’s Max Hesse.
However, with qualifying on Friday and race day fast approaching, Harper has so far only completed a handful of laps around the ‘Brickyard’ in the sister Team WRT BMW M4 GT3.
Team WRT is one of the squads affected by the port worker strike ahead of the season finale, although it is hoped the No.33 BMW Harper will use will have arrived trackside Thursday morning U.S time.
If they do, mechanics and drivers are expected to have a short window to get everything ready for the all-important four hour Free Practice session later that evening.
Despite the added stress, Harper is remaining focused on the job in hand, which is to become the first driver from the UK or Ireland to lift the IGTC drivers’ title.
The Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor and Ayhancan Guven currently leads the way going into the last round of the track series in Indianapolis – 14 points ahead of Harper and Hesse whose 18-point scores at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in Germany, and the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium, have put the BMW Motorsport-backed duo in contention for the crown.
Their result this weekend could also be decisive in deciding where the manufacturers’ trophy ends up, with Porsche, Mercedes-AMG and BMW all currently in the running for it.
“I’m excited to be racing at Indianapolis for the last round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. It is going to be good fun racing in America for the first time in my career and getting the opportunity to learn all about such an iconic circuit with a new team,” he said.
“It wasn’t an aim to be fighting for the IGTC drivers’ title, but we have ended up with a shout after our good results at the Nürburgring and Spa.
“The main target is to get the best result possible to help BMW to win the manufacturers’ title, and we will see where that puts us in the drivers’ battle. I’m also really looking forward to joining up with Team WRT.”
He added: “I know they are a very talented, professional and established team, so it will be great to see how they work and gain some knowledge from them over the weekend.”
