SAMANTHA TAN STRENGTHENS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD ON IMSA VP SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE RETURN AT MID-OHIO
Samantha Tan continued a strong start to her maiden IMSA VP SportsCar Challenge season with a brace of strong finishes at Mid-Ohio, including a Bronze class win, despite atrocious weather conditions.
After a prolonged break, during which the Samantha Tan Racing team successfully contested a one-off run in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), Samantha remained in podium contention across both 45-minute sprint events in Lexington, and was the 5th and 4th highest-placed GTDX runner overall in races one and two respectively. Valuable points earned means that after three rounds, Samantha has further extended her GTDX Bronze championship lead. Both the BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador and ST Racing are currently third overall in the GTDX Drivers’ and GTDX Teams’ standings respectively.
Samantha Tan, driver/co-owner: “It was a successful learning weekend for me at Mid-Ohio! I hadn’t raced here in nine years, so it felt great to be back—this track is always such a treat with its elevation changes and flowing corners. We had a strong car from the start, qualifying P3 overall and P1 in class ahead of Race 1. I fought hard throughout Saturday’s race, but unfortunately, a mechanical issue took us out on one of the final laps. That being said, I somehow still managed to salvage P2 in class and earn valuable points. Sunday’s race was a wet one, and I was admittedly a bit nervous with how slick the surface was. But I drew on what I learned racing in the rain at Daytona earlier this season and brought the car home clean, finishing P1 in class.”
Races 1 and 2
In her first official race at Mid-Ohio since 2016, Samantha made an encouraging start by qualifying 3rd overall for race one, just eight-tenths of a second off pole position in the #38 BMW M4 GT3. A mechanical issue in the closing laps meant Samantha completed race one on Saturday 2nd in-class. Abundant sunshine on Saturday however had turned to heavy rain by Sunday morning.
Despite massive rooster tails from the prototype cars ahead, an undaunted Samantha opted for a conservative approach to race two. Her experience with endurance racing allowed Samantha to keep the BMW on the soaking wet track throughout the race and manoeuvre her way through the multi-class field to pick up her third Bronze class win of the season.
Kenneth Tan, team co-owner: “That’s one for the books, I would say. The last time Samantha raced in Mid-Ohio was in April 2016, so it’s been a while. I have driven this track and it’s a tricky one with the off-camber and blind corners. The rain exponentially increases that challenge with all the water accumulation in certain corners. I am quite pleased with Samantha’s performance in Race 1 but unfortunately, a tool failure resulted in a loose wheel that ended her race prematurely a lap after she clocked her fastest lap, which placed her P4 on the grid for Race 2. The rain made the second race very difficult but she executed her objective effectively, making sure the car finished in one piece and ahead of the other bronze cars. Overall, it was the best we could do and increased her championship lead in class. Can’t really ask for more. Now we look forward to her home race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park next month. It’s been eight years since her last race there in the BMW M235iR. Wow, time flies. We are going to have a couple of events to celebrate her return and hope to see everyone there. I want to thank the officials at IMSA for keeping to the schedule and running the events efficiently given the inclement and unpredictable weather during the race weekend. Very well run. Cheers!”
Prior to the next round of the IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge event on 11-13 July (on home turf in Canada, no less), Samantha will compete in the Road to Le Mans support race on 12-14 June with Team WRT.