Samantha Tan Racing will go into this year’s Indianapolis 8 Hours, the season finale for the 2024 GT World Challenge America season, on top in the PRO-AM championship standings after a combative weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. One that saw the Canadian team secure hard-earned podium finishes with both cars.

 

Putting the speed of its BMW M4 GT3s to good use in Alabama, ST Racing was among the quickest PRO entries (#28) across the entire event. BMW M Motorsport legend Bill Auberlen and teammate Varun Choksey produced one of their strongest showings of the 2024 season to finish overall runner-up in the second race of the weekend.

 

The team’s PRO-AM BMW meanwhile (#38), driven by Samantha Tan and BMW works driver Neil Verhagen, fought back from a fraught opening race to secure a PRO/AM podium on Sunday. ST Racing’s now holds a 36-point lead in the PRO/AM Drivers’ standings heading into Indianapolis.

 

Samantha Tan, team co-owner / driver (#38): “We managed to secure a podium at Barber, despite a challenging start. It was our first time at the track with no prior testing, so we had to maximize every on-track session and carefully analyze the data afterward. Practice and qualifying went smoothly — Neil and I qualified P2 and P4 in class. However, in Race 1, I broke formation at the green flag (we were supposed to wait until the start/finish line to pass). I went for a pass on the inside of Turn 1 but was given little room. I was more than halfway on the grass when I made contact with the #29 BMW, which resulted in two drive-through penalties. Despite the setback, we pushed hard and salvaged P7 by the end. Race 2 went better; we battled throughout the race and finished 3rd at the checkered flag. Now, all focus is on Indy with a 36-point gap to close, and I'll be training harder than ever until then. Huge thanks to my team for all their hard work this weekend!”

 

From 5th on the grid (4th in-class), the #28 BMW, with Bill at the wheel, was quickly up to 4th overall shortly after the green flag dropped. Such was Bill’s pace, the BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador spent most of the next 25 minutes crawling all over the back of 3rd-placed Random Vandals Racing. He was also routinely the fastest car overall in sectors one and two, and even set the fastest race lap early on.

 

Job done, Bill handed the BMW over to Varun at half-distance. Shortly afterwards, the young up-and-comer pulled a stunning move, around the outside of turn 14, to vault the #28 BMW up into 3rd overall.

 

Thereafter, Varun held the hard-charging Racers Edge Motorsports Acura at bay for close to 30 minutes, and only relinquished the final rostrum spot to his more experienced rival on the penultimate lap. Holding his nerve to the bitter end, Varun gave – and, indeed, received – no quarter, and 4th overall is a mighty feather in the Georgia native’s cap as he continues his transitional first season to GT3 competition.

 

A tough afternoon for the sister #38 BMW meanwhile, started with mild contact between ST Racing and Turner Motorsport’s respective BMW M4 GT3s on the opening lap. After serving her drive-through penalties, and despite the frustration, Samantha was in inspired form for the remainder of her stint, closing down an 18-second gap to, and ultimately passing, her closest rival and moving up to 12th overall. Teammate Neil proved similarly metronomic during his stint, pulling audacious switchback passes out of turn five to vault the #38 ST Racing BMW up to 7th in PRO-AM in the closing stages.

 

Sunday’s race two, fortunately, began far smoother with both front row starter Neil (#38) and Varun (#28) retaining their starting positions into turn one. Neil in particular, taking a conservative approach to preserve his tires, withstood enormous pressure to hold on to 2nd all the way to the mandatory mid-race pit stops. The 2016 F1600 Champion even took the top spot briefly when overall leader Turner Motorsport headed to pit road early.

 

Typically rapid work by ST Racing’s mechanics saw Samantha emerge from pit road ahead of the Turner Motorsport BMW, though the latter, two laps into its stint and thus with warmer tires, was able to sneak back past. Looking “menacing” aboard the planted BMW, Samantha kept the leader in her sights, with both M4s nose-to-tail for the next 20 minutes.

 

Varun ran a mature opening stint to bring the #28 BMW onto pit lane, at half-distance, 5th in the PRO class. Bill got the hammer down quickly during his stint, and had quietly scythed his way through the pack – setting the fastest overall time in sector two as he did so – to 7th overall when a full-course yellow was called, 25 minutes from home.

 

At the restart, Bill, elbows out, was quickly up to 3rd, while Samantha, shuffled back to 7th at the restart by the faster PRO cars around her, withstood massive pressure over the closing 20 minutes to hold on to 3rd in-class. Bouncing back from a difficult race on Saturday, ST Racing’s namesake collected the team’s 10th PRO-AM podium – of a possible 12 – of the 2024 season.

 

Incredibly, when the overall leader was forced to pit for a last-minute splash and dash, Bill was dutifully promoted to 2nd overall – from 12th on the grid – with just six minutes of race two remaining. The #28 BMW’s first podium finish since May had been well-earned.

 

Neil Verhagen, driver: “Considering that I had never turned a single lap at Barber before this weekend and only had two free practice sessions—one of which was in wet conditions—I think we did an excellent job as a team to qualify P2. We just barely missed out on pole. The lack of testing became more evident during the races as we struggled a bit against our rivals. However, it was still a very positive weekend overall. We maintain the championship lead heading into the final round at Indianapolis, a track where we have more experience, and we’ll be aiming to bring home the championship for Samantha Tan Racing.”

 

Samantha Tan Racing brings its 2024 motorsport program to a close at the Indianapolis 8 Hours on 4-6 October. Prior to that, the Canadian team makes its return to endurance racing action at this weekend’s 24H BARCELONA at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.