Hillsborough BMW driver Daniel Harper fights back to take British GT top five In Portugal

As the high temperatures in Portugal produced a tough challenge for both man and machine, it was Leung who started the three-hour race behind the wheel of the BMW. There was a quick changeover though, with an early safety car leading to Harper taking the reins just 15 minutes in.Harper settled back into fifth and brought the car home to continue their impressive record of finishing every single race inside the top six so far this season.That result means that Harper and Leung remain second in the overall GT3 drivers’ championship, albeit now 28 points adrift of the summit, heading into the penultimate round of the season in seven weeks’ time on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.Daniel said: “It was a pretty mad race with lots going on, so overall we’ve got to be happy to fight our way back to some decent points. Ultimately we were unlucky a couple of times with our position on circuit when the safety car came out, and also were on the receiving end of a harsh penalty.

“Coming down the main straight at high speed whilst catching the safety car queue, I didn’t see the GT4 cars leaving the pitlane until late coming over the crest of the hill, and at that point I went hard on the brakes but unless I drove into the back of the them, there was nothing else I could do.

“Taking away our frustration with that, there’s a lot of positives to take away again from the race. Darren did a great job, the team gave us a very fast car and I was able to go on the offensive with it to make progress.

"With two rounds left, we’re still in the title hunt and the pressure is on the leaders now, so we’ll give it our best until the final chequered flag of the year.”