TOP FIVE IN PRO/AM FOR SAMANTHA TAN RACING AFTER FIGHTING DRIVE AT COTA
In yet another storming run, Samantha Tan Racing banked more points in its fight for this year’s GT World Challenge America PRO/AM title with a hard-earned 5th in-class at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
COTA has proven a successful hunting ground for ST Racing over the years. After taking class wins in 2017 and 2018, the Canadian team was successful at the Texan venue twice more in 2019 and once again in 2020 en-route to West Pro-Am Cup and SprintX Teams’ championship successes respectively.
Changeable conditions meant qualifying did not entirely go to plan, though astute driving, and with focus now shifted to race setup, meant BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador Samantha Tan and BMW M factory driver John Edwards were nevertheless able to bank the 7th and 10th fastest PRO/AM times during their respective sessions.
A diligent start saw Samantha move up to 6th in PRO/AM during the opening stages of race one at COTA. Decisive moves on-track, aided by the BMW’s nimbleness through COTA’s renowned ‘Esses,’ meant Samantha had already climbed to 4th in-class, the PRO/AM podium in her crosshairs, when a full course yellow was thrown following a high-speed collision between two of the frontrunners.
Stellar pit work by ST Racing’s experienced mechanics saw John Edwards emerge from the mid-race mandatory pit stop in 5th overall, right behind the overall leaders, the #38 BMW ideally placed to quickly move up to 3rd overall as the leaders squabbled for track position. Shortly afterwards however, John, the GTLM Daytona 24 Hours class winner of 2020, was the unlucky victim of an avoidable accident whilst battling for the overall lead. Damage sustained when the ST Racing M4 GT3 was sandwiched heading into turn one caused significant front-end damage, forcing the car’s premature retirement.
Fueled by the loss of a near-certain overall podium – if not more – during race one, John made a scintillating start to race two the following afternoon, the native Kentuckian overtaking SIX cars on the opening lap alone. Astonishing pace across the following 50 minutes meant John had picked up an impressive nine positions and was up to 4th ahead of the mandatory pit stop.
Poor luck on pitroad saw Samantha shuffled back to 6th when she re-joined, cooling temperatures and the threat of rain in the air making life even more difficult. Thereafter though, the ST Racing namesake drove the race of her life, harrying the Porsches and Aston Martins ahead – each of which had come alive in the slick conditions – and making good use of the BMW’s turbocharged six-cylinder down COTA’s back straight to keep PRO/AM and PRO rivals alike at bay. Proving her racing prowess with several overtaking attempts through COTA’s technical T12-16 complex, Samantha eventually brought the #38 BMW home in a hard-earned and well-deserved 5th in-class, barely three-tenths off her nearest opponent.
Samantha Tan, driver/team co-owner: “This weekend was a difficult one. I’ve had many successful events at COTA, including becoming the first woman to pole and win in the Ferrari Challenge NA Pirelli class just last year. We struggled with some technical issues for both test sessions and practices, and had a challenging qualifying — starting P12 for Race 1 and P15 for Race 2 — but the team put it all together for the races and we had a car to fight with. I fought my way up to P6 in Race 1, and after John got in, he was fighting for the overall lead when we got taken out in T1 by a Porsche. In Race 2, John was FLYING and passed 6 cars just in the opening lap, and pitting while 4th overall. Unfortunately, we lost a couple positions in the pit stop but I fought hard with the #45 Porsche for the majority of my stint. The tire degradation became really challenging to deal with, but we ended up taking the checkered P5 in class. Happy to have finished a race after the month of unlucky encounters!”
Kenneth Tan, team principal: “COTA has always produced eventful races for us. Samantha had her first professional U.S. race here in 2015 in the Pirelli World Challenge’s TC-A class driving a Kia Forte. Samantha started in P8 but after 5 laps had moved up to P5 and was fighting for P4 before being hit by a dive-bombing Miata which caused a radiator hose to come off and a subsequent blown engine. It was a definite podium finish had she not taken the damage. Fast forward to 2023 and Sam started the race P12 but surgically moved up to P6 by the time she handed the car over to co-driver John Edwards. A combination of amazing pitstop by the STR Crew and some fine driving by John had us up to P3 just 2 laps into his stint until a dive-bombing Porsche caused a hit to the left wheel making the toe go off kilter and out of the race, It was definitely a podium finish without that damage. The second race was a lot cleaner and kudos to John again for moving up 9 positions to P5 before handing the car to Samantha. Sam fought the same infamous Porsche from the day before. She was definitely the faster car but some questionable blocking made it extremely difficult to pass until finally her tires were gone and had to settle with P7 overall at finish. I am of course a little disappointed for missing the podium this weekend but I’m very satisfied and proud of everyone’s performance this weekend, especially Sam’s. She has continued to up her game and I know it won’t be long until she podiums. I can’t wait to see her at our next race in Paul Ricard. The chase continues and I know we will get to the podium very soon.”
John Edwards, driver: “It was a challenging weekend at COTA as we battled some issues on Thursday and Friday and missed out on some valuable practice time, which really compromised our qualifying effort. Our race pace looked to be stronger and we had a shot at the podium before getting taken out in race 1, but our guys got the car back together so we could go secure a top 5 in race 2. The team and Samantha all did a great job to overcome our bad luck and salvage what we could, and I have no doubt the results will come!”
Rounds seven and eight of this year’s GT World Challenge America will take Samantha Tan Racing to the Virginia International Raceway on 16-17-18 June. Prior to that, the North American team, once again in collaboration with Rinaldi Racing, will take on the Circuit Paul Ricard 1000km, the next round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, on 3-4 June. A fitting preparation for the team’s return to the 24 Hours of Spa on 29 June to 2 July.