SAMANTHA TAN SEALS IMSA VP RACING SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP AT ROAD ATLANTA

Samantha Tan sealed her first official IMSA championship this past weekend with two class wins at the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge season finale at Road Atlanta.

The Canadian native took back-to-back Bronze class victories at Road Atlanta – her seventh and eighth, respectively, from 12 races run this year – and also secured her third and fourth overall GTDX category podiums of the season in the process. The points earned were enough to secure Samantha Tan not only the GTDX Bronze Drivers’ championship (nearly 1,000 points clear of her nearest rival) in her first season of IMSA competition, but also third outright in the overall GTDX Drivers’ standings. Additionally, Samantha Tan Racing signs off a highly successful IMSA season with third overall in the GTDX Teams’ standings.

Samantha Tan, driver/co-owner: “This was my first time driving at Road Atlanta, and it definitely came with its fair share of challenges. With a condensed schedule and a wet first practice, every lap counted; we had to make the most of every session. I’m really proud of how quickly I adapted and how much progress we made throughout the weekend. To finish the season with two more wins in the Bronze class and to bring home the championship title feels incredible. It’s the perfect way to close out a year of growth, learning, and resilience.”

After a sensational opening Free Practice session, during which she posted the fastest time of any GTDX competitor aboard the #38 BMW M4 GT3, Samantha completed an equally impressive run in qualifying to round out the overall top 10 on the multi-discipline grid. A strong start to the first 45-minute race of the weekend at Road Atlanta saw the BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador quickly open-up a five-second gap to her closest ‘Bronze’ category rival, an advantage she held almost all the way to the chequered flag.

A baulked start to the following day’s second race saw Samantha briefly slip back to 4th in-class. Years of multi-category racing experience though meant the young Canadian, unfazed, was able to chip away at the gap before permanently retaking the Bronze class lead with two-thirds of the race left to run. Impressively, Samantha also secured the fastest race lap of any Bronze GTDX driver in both races.

Kenneth Tan, team co-owner: “This was a great way to end the 2026 race season for the team.  Road Atlanta is a very challenging track and Sam has never raced there. We had done a track day way back when she was still trying to get her FIA License and to see her lap times during the race being that close to Adam and Jake was very impressive. That’s a long time ago and now, to see her perform well with just three short practice sessions bodes well for 2026 as we look to race some new tracks. This is a very satisfying end to the season and I really have to commend Mark and the crew for always giving Sam a well-prepped and competitive car at each race. I also want to thank IMSA for running such an efficient series. We look forward to coming back for an even more challenging 2026.”

Samantha Tan can now add her newly-earned GTDX Bronze Drivers’ championship in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge to the 24H SERIES’ Overall GT Drivers’ crown she won in 2021, as well as the West Pro-Am Cup and SprintX Cup honours ST Racing secured in the GT4 America Series in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The Canadian team also won the 24H SERIES’ Overall GT Teams’ championship in 2021.