SAMANTHA TAN RACING OPENS 2023 SRO GT WORLD CHALLENGE SEASON AT SONOMA WITH AN OVERALL POLE POSITION AND TOP FIVE FINISH

Samantha Tan Racing made a promising start to its 2023 GT World Challenge America campaign with a hard fought, P5 finish in the Pro-Am class at the season opener in Sonoma. Despite a suspected technical issue striking the #38 BMW M4 GT3 late in race one, ST Racing bounced back to take a top five finish in the PRO/AM class in race two.

Newly announced BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador Samantha Tan showed her mettle by qualifying an impressive 8th overall and 5th in the PRO-AM class with one final do-or-die lap during her session. In an incredibly tight field, just one-tenth more would have put ST Racing on the PRO/AM front row.

Samantha’s stellar qualifying performance also bests the 15th overall and 10th in the PRO/AM class the Ontario native managed on the #38 M4 GT3’s GTWC debut at the same venue in 2022.

In his first qualifying session for the team, BMW Motorsport factory driver John Edwards posted an astonishing 1:35.237s during the second qualifying session to secure the overall pole position for race two. It was an eye-catching way to kick-off his first full GTWC America season.

After a clean – albeit hectic – start to Saturday’s race one, Samantha wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valor after being hung out to dry at turn seven by Wright Motorsports. Taking the long view to the GTWC America season opener, Samantha settled in and was able to hold onto 10th in-class until the mandatory driver change, 45 minutes in.

Edwards made a similarly strong start to his first racing stint with ST Racing, moving up the order a couple of places to 12th overall and 8th in-class. Sadly, a suspected technical issue befell the #38 M4 GT3 less than 20 minutes from home, unfortunately leading to the car’s retirement.

Edwards made a fighting start to race two on Sunday afternoon, running side-by-side with the fast-starting Crowdstrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG through turns seven, eight and nine before finally having to give best into the snaking turn 10. While managing the tire degradation, he held onto 3rd overall, until just before the mandatory driver change at half-distance.

Samantha, re-joining 5th overall, was immediately all over the back of 4th-placed Wright Motorsports, pressuring the Porsche for lap after lap. After a spirited effort, Samantha brought her BMW home 5th in-class and 7th overall to open her team’s account in North America for 2023.

Samantha Tan, co-owner/driver: “It was a solid first race weekend in GTWC America, here at Sonoma Raceway! After lots of testing in the off-season, the team gave us a stellar car, allowing John and I to both have amazing qualifying sessions. I was P5 in class only a tenth off P2, and John qualified on overall pole for Race 2. Although we had some issues in the first race, causing us to retire the car, we came back strong today and finished P5 in class after battling with severe tire degradation and lowered boost. Altogether, I think we showed great pace, I learned a ton, and we have good points for the start of the season!”

John Edwards, driver: “It was a great first weekend for me with ST Racing! On a track that doesn’t suit our car, we still managed to snag a pole position and save some points in the race. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and I know we’ll be on top of the podium soon!”

Kenneth Tan, team principal: “What a weekend: We poled in GT3, our two STR38 Motorsports GT4 cars podiumed, and all our drivers ran very strong races, all things considered. I am really proud of the team’s performance. It is the first time we are running three cars and both GT4 and GT3 programs under one roof. Thanks to Jon and Mark for putting together such a professional crew. I’m also especially proud of Samantha’s performance after not having raced for about 5 months. She showed a lot of grit and skill during her two stints. There is always room for improvement but overall, we did well and all the cars came back in one piece. I’m always happy when I leave the race weekend that way. We can’t wait to be in NOLA next month!”

Round two of this year’s GTWC America will take Samantha Tan Racing to NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana on 28-29-30 April. One week prior to that, the Canadian- entered outfit is also set to start its first, full GTWC Europe Endurance season with a 3 hour race at the vaunted Autodromo Nazionale Monza on 21-22-23 April.

Both races will be streamed live, with footage on-board the #38 BMW M4 GT3 available at www.twitch.tv/samanthatanracing . Updates as the races progress will also be available via ST Racing’s accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.