By: ST Racing
December 17, 2024
December 17, 2024
ST Racing is pleased to announce that team co-owner Samantha Tan will make her IMSA debut, competing in the full season of the new GTDX class of the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge.
BMW North America brand ambassador Samantha Tan will take part in her first full solo campaign with ST Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 in the Sportscar Challenge, the official support series of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Since 2022, ST Racing has raced with the BMW M4 GT3, securing the brand’s very first overall victory with the M4 GT3. In the GT World Challenge America series, the team took three class wins and seven further podiums in 2024 en-route to an incredibly close runners-up spot in the GTWC PRO/AM Driver and Team standings. Prior to this, ST Racing secured the GT4 America West Pro-Am Cup in 2019 and the GT4 SprintX Silver Teams’ title in 2020. In 2021, ST Racing was also crowned the Overall GT Teams’ champion in the European endurance 24H SERIES in the team’s first season competing in Europe.
This championship-winning experience, as well as expansive knowledge of the BMW M4 and full confidence in the team around her, has inspired Samantha to take on one of her toughest challenges to-date – her first solo GT3 campaign – in 2025.
Samantha Tan, driver / team co-owner: “I’m thrilled to announce my step into IMSA for 2025, one of the most competitive and prestigious racing series in North America. My first full GT3 season this year was incredibly rewarding, pushing me to maximize every moment on and off the track. I’m eager to take on the challenge of a new multi-class format with LMP3, GT3, and GT4 cars, continuing to sharpen my skills against some of the best in the sport. I’m entering this season with a fire in my heart and my sights set firmly on the VP Challenge championship title.”
Kenneth Tan, team co-owner: “Our team has been interested to compete in IMSA since 2022 but circumstances were not ideal for an entry. We are finally taking that step and IMSA’s VP Racing Sportscar Challenge is a great way for us to get our feet wet into a new world called IMSA. We had a small taste when Samantha ran in the IMSA-officiated Ferrari Challenge a couple of years ago but that is not the same. This definitely will be a new challenge for our team and we are very much looking forward to it as that is what makes racing so exciting for us. Can’t wait to be at Daytona next month!”
For its first season including GT3 competitors, the six-round, 12-race VP Racing Sportscar Challenge season starts with the ‘Roar before the Rolex 24’ at the Daytona International Speedway on 17-19 January. This will mark Samantha Tan Racing’s first official participation in the program leading up to the famous Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Round two of the season takes place at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas on 28 February to 1 March. One of its more lucrative circuits, ST Racing has previously taken half a dozen class wins across three different series at COTA. The weekend will similarly mark ST Racing’s first program during an official NASCAR Cup Series weekend.
Following round three at Mid-Ohio on 6-8 June, ST Racing is set to make its return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on 11-13 July. This will be the team’s first race in Canada since 2017, when they competed in the Pirelli World Challenge series with a BMW M235iR.
The 2025 season wraps up with two further rounds at the Virginia International Raceway and Road Atlanta on 22-24 August and 8-11 October respectively.