Class Victory for the #69 Crew at Suzuka 1000KM

Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson gave Team WRT plenty to celebrate at the Suzuka 1000KM, taking Bronze class honours and a 7th place overall finish in the single entered Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO. The result caps off round four of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, marking the 50th edition of this legendary Japanese endurance classic.

Team WRT returned to Suzuka one year after claiming overall victory at the iconic Japanese circuit. This time, the Belgian squad entered a single car, competing in the Bronze class with Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson behind the wheel of the #69. The road to victory wasn't a straightforward one though. Despite qualifying P6 overall and P2 in class, the #69 was handed a 5-place grid penalty for a red flag procedure infringement during night practice, dropping the crew to a
P11 start. The race didn't start smoothly either, with the Belgian BMW M4 GT3 EVO dropping down the order early on. Things turned around mid-race, though, when the crew made most of a welltimed Full Course Yellow procedure, jumping up the order in both class and overall. From there, with the car handling well and a couple of rivals picking up penalties along the way, Dan, Parker and Tony steadily fought their way back to the front until the Bronze class lead was theirs. Late in the race, Dan Harper was handed a drive-through penalty for causing a collision, adding a bit
of tension to the closing stages. But the gap the team had built was more than enough to absorb it and bring the win home.

Dan Harper: "It's a great day. We had a bit of bad luck at the beginning, but we came back strongly and the team got us back into the fight for victory with an excellent strategy. My team-mates did a perfect job and handed the car over to me in a great position. I'm happy that I was able to bring the victory home.