Samantha Tan retained her class championship lead in the IMSA VP SportsCar Challenge with two Bronze class victories at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Having secured two podiums at her official VP Challenge debut in January, Samantha went one better during the second round of the season at COTA, with her first Bronze class win in race one, swiftly followed by a second victory in race two later that afternoon.
Both class wins mean that Samantha extends her lead in the GTDX Bronze standings to 90 points.
Impressively, the COTA wins also move both the BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador and ST Racing up to 4th in the GTDX Drivers’ and GTDX Teams’ championship standings, respectively, exceeding pre-season expectations in the process.
“This one is for the girls!” said Samantha Tan, team co-owner/driver. “Another weekend sweep at one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. Came into this weekend with the same enthusiasm and knowledge from last season, and drove my heart out at Circuit of the Americas once again. It’s always such a pleasure to drive here. Huge thank you to my team for the incredible car — It was on rails! We’ve got a bit of a break until Mid-Ohio but I’ll be announcing my upcoming April race very soon. Thank you to everyone who came to support and tuned in!”
“COTA has always been a great place for us to race,” said Kenneth Tan, team co-owner. “I love the track and I love the city of Austin. Samantha had her first ever pro race in the US here and she has always been very strong. There’s something about the racetrack that just clicks with her. We even did our first ever 24-hour race here with Creventic and podiumed. She also poled here in her first ever race in a Ferrari. So it’s no surprise she did well in the VP Challenge this past weekend at COTA. Now we focus on Mid-Ohio. I think the last time she raced there was almost 10 years ago. We need to keep our momentum going. Should be fun!”
Race One
Samantha got her COTA weekend off to a strong start by posting the fastest GTDX lap for a Bronze driver in qualifying. Indeed, Samantha’s 1 minute and 33.971 second lap time was enough to bank fifth in GT3 overall.
Despite an unsettled start to the race, the first lap of which was completed under yellow after a GTDX entrant was unable to fire its engine, Samantha emerged from a busy turn one in seventh overall in GT3. With a strong BMW M4 beneath her, the young Canadian was already back up to fourth-place and leading the Bronze class just 10 minutes later. Drawing on her endurance racing experience, Samantha was quick to establish, then hold, a comfortable lead over the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 behind her.
An incredible end to the race, during which both leading P3 prototypes suffered fueling issues, saw Samantha finish first in the GTDX Bronze class over four seconds clear of her nearest rival.
The class win marked ST Racing’s highest placement yet at a VP SportsCar Challenge event.
Race Two
A higher ambient track temperature and five hours of intervening NASCAR competition meant the 3.702km Circuit of the Americas National Circuit was transformed when Samantha returned for race two later in the afternoon.
Once again, a bustling turn one saw the No. 38 BMW hung out to dry on the outside, but it wasn’t long before Samantha had scythed her way back through the field. Fifteen minutes into race two, she had already worked her way back up to fourth – into the Bronze class lead – and begun closing in on the podium contenders.
A controlled race thereafter saw Samantha secure a second GTDX Bronze class win in succession and a strong fourth-place overall in GT3, less than eight-tenths behind third.
After a prolonged break, the IMSA VP SportsCar Challenge returns for round three of 2025 at Mid-Ohio on June 6-8. One month later, Samantha Tan Racing is set to compete on home turf for the first time since 2017 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 11-13.
- By ST Racing/Service de Presse
