Austin, Texas – Perfectly set both physically and mentally to start her racing season at the Circuit of the Americas this past weekend, Samantha Tan was forced to abandon due to a fatal engine failure in the No. 38 GPI/Kinetic/Kia Forte Koup.
With fantastic results during practice sessions on Thursday, placing Samantha in third position in class with best lap time of 2.37.600, expectations and enthusiasm were extremely high.
Her best lap time of 2:36.780 during qualifying placed her in ninth position in class for the start of race one, and 26th overall on the grid. When the green flag fell, Samantha was pushed back to 11th position after battling at the start. Her concentration and consistency helped her to climb her way back to seventh position. Charging towards the front of the field, passing several cars along the way, Tan got involved in a very unfortunate race incident on the fifth lap. She was in fifth place when the incident occurred.
“I passed a car going into turn 11, and I was going to pass a second one as I saw him going wide into the corner, but we collided at the apex… It was considered a racing incident”, stated Samantha Tan. “I ran one lap in P5 before my car started smoking and had to stop next to a flag station.”
Unfortunately, the team did not carry a spare to replace the failed engine for the race and efforts to find one was unsuccessful. Tan was never able to go back on the race track and therefore did not participate in the following two races of the weekend. Enough laps were completed for her to be awarded 60 points.
The Nissan Grand Prix of Texas, first outing of the season for Pirelli World Challenge, was held at the well-known Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This 20-turn racetrack of 3.4 miles incorporates some of the favorite and most challenging turns from other Formula 1 circuits. TCA races from this past weekend will be aired on CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 8 p.m. ET.
Samantha’s team will have plenty of time to build a new engine and make sure the car is ready for the next race. Rounds 4, 5 and 6 will take place on May 15-17 at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, in Bowmanville, Ontario. This single visit to Canada for PWC will be special for Samantha as she will be racing at her home track.
Samantha’s race fans can follow her on her Facebook page and on Twitter: @STR_Samantha