Samantha Tan Racing secured two podiums at round four of this year’s GT World Challenge America to extend its lead in the PRO/AM Teams’ and Drivers’ standings.

 

Team co-owner Samantha Tan and BMW factory driver Neil Verhagen took their seventh and eighth consecutive PRO/AM podiums of the 2024 season at the Virginia International Raceway, and have now increased their lead in the category’s Teams’ and Drivers’ standings to 52 points. In an amazingly consistent campaign thus far, the #38 BMW has yet to finish a race off the PRO/AM podium in 2024.

 

Despite the demonstrative pace of Neil and Samantha, as well as that of the BMW M4 GT3, the weekend was not all plain sailing for the Canadian team. An on-track brush in race one meant the #38 BMW ultimately fell less than half-a-second short of PRO-AM victory in race one. An unfortunately-timed full course caution in race one, ended up denying the sister #28 BMW M4 GT3, driven by Varun Choksey and BMW M Motorsport legend Bill Auberlen, two richly-deserved overall podiums.

 

Despite the frustrations, ST Racing remains confident that both of its M4 GT3s will remain crucial players in the PRO/AM and PRO championship fights across the three remaining GTWC America rounds of 2024.

 

Samantha Tan, team co-owner / driver #38): “Getting a little 2023 deja-vu with back to back P2s at VIR again this year! It was a challenging weekend for us with the changing conditions from session to session. We struggled to find our sweet spot with the setup, but maximized what we could. With constant engineering progress, we had a fighting chance for the win in both races. Frustratingly, a rare number of ill-timed full course yellows prevented us from capitalizing on our pace, flawless pit stops, and competitive strategy. Our car was also involved in an incident during race one, and I speak for everyone at STR when I say we were incredibly relieved when we saw Robby Foley emerge unscathed.

 

Altogether, we were still able to gain valuable points this weekend and extend our championship lead. I can’t wait for Road America, and we will work hard in the meantime so we can stand on the top step again!”

 

Kenneth Tan, team co-owner: “The race weekend was tough, made more difficult by variable weather conditions and a heavy handed BoP change for the BMWs. The team persevered to somehow find a way to still be front runners both in the Pro-Am and Pro classes. 

 

In race one, I’m just glad that Robby Foley was fine after that horrible crash for the #29 Turner BMW. We hope to never see that happen again. Fortunately, given all the yellow flags, the drive through penalty was minimized and allowed us to finish P2 for Race 1. Sunday’s race was slightly better but still tough with our car 28 being given a drive through penalty. With the two drive through penalties this weekend I expect none on our next race. Overall, a good points haul for car 38 and a big improvement in car 28’s competitiveness, which should set us up for a good race weekend at Road America.”

 

Fast starts from both Bill (#28) and Samantha (#38) saw both ST Racing BMWs make up positions on the opening lap of the first 90-minute race of the weekend, with Bill slotting into 2nd overall at turn one and Samantha scything into 7th (also 2nd in-class) shortly thereafter. While still exerting pressure on their rivals ahead, both ST Racing BMWs held their positions through to the mandatory mid-race pit stops.

 

Though Neil, now aboard the #38 BMW, was able to rejoin the race in 7th, an unfortunately-timed full-course caution just before its pit stop ended up dropping the #28 from 2nd overall to 8th, and out of the PRO lead. A suspected loose right rear wheel brought Varun, now in the #28 hot seat, back onto pitroad shortly afterwards for a precautionary check.

 

Unluckily, Varun’s day ended early while the GT racing up-and-comer was battling for 6th. A spin for the Regulator Racing Mercedes heading into turn four caused the pursuing DXDT Racing to check up under braking, and left with nowhere to go, Varun’s front left wheel inadvertently made contact with the Corvette.

 

To safeguard the car for Sunday’s race, the #28 BMW M4 GT3 was retired soon afterwards.

 

A fighting drive for Neil (#38) meanwhile was only just beginning. Close-quarters driving against Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley unfortunately led to the #29 BMW hitting the barriers at turn three, resulting in the stewards handing the #38 a drive-through penalty. Though this dropped ST Racing out of the PRO/AM lead, Verhagen recovered to 6th overall and 2nd in PRO/AM.

 

A stunning fightback across the closing 15 minutes saw Neil pass two lapped cars and fall just four-tenths short of the class win. A fitting result for the native Connecticuter, one year on from his ST Racing debut at the same event.

 

Neil Verhagen, driver (#38): “Returning to VIR with STR since my 2023 debut with the team was a special feeling. We entered the weekend with positive attitudes, eager to return to racing after a short summer break. 

 

Like last year, we managed to secure podium finishes in both races. However, beneath the surface, this weekend proved to be challenging for us as a team. The constantly changing track conditions made it difficult to find the perfect setup for the car. Despite the crew and engineering making big progress through the event, we were on the back foot for what felt like the first time this year. Incredible strategy, pit stops and a bit of luck kept us competitive while Sam and I tried to maximize our focus and minimize mistakes. In race one, we had a strong chance to win but made unfortunate contact with the #29 Turner BMW while battling hard for the lead of the race. These scary moments are thankfully a rare but real part of racing when two cars try to occupy the same space at the same time. Thankfully and most importantly, Robby walked away from the incident unharmed. We finished race one in P2. 

 

On Sunday, race two was equally as challenging as the track temperatures rose even higher. Phenomenal driving by Samantha during the second stint in what was clearly the slower car in the battle is what made all the difference. She made passes when it counted and then withstood intense pressure from the Corvette and #29 BMW for her entire stint to bring it home in P2 again. We obtained good points at VIR and have extended our championship lead. I'm looking forward to getting back to work soon at Road America!”

 

Despite the increased heat on Sunday afternoon, ST Racing continued its strategic approach to race two, with Neil (#38) and Varun (#28) retaining 5th and 9th respectively on the opening lap and running in formation for most of the opening half of race two.

 

Another mid-race full-course caution meant almost all of the field pitted at the same time, with Samantha (#38) and fellow BMW M Motorsport brand ambassador Bill (#28) emerging in 6th and 8th overall respectively after meticulous pit work.

 

The enormously-experienced Bill was soon on a charge when the track went green once again, moving up to 4th overall with a brave three-wide pass for position on VIR’s famous back straight. This soon became 3rd following a side-by-side collision between two of his rivals up ahead. Heading into the closing stages, the fight for 3rd overall and 2nd in the PRO class came down to ST Racing and PRO standings leader #120 Porsche of Wright Motorsports.

 

An opportunity for Bill to pass arose at turn one with just eight minutes of the race remaining, only for the door to close at the last moment. Handed a drive-through penalty for the collision, Bill and Varun were sadly denied an overall podium at VIR.

 

Despite the frustrations, the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 is still 2nd in the PRO Teams’ title chase, and is still well within striking range of the standings leader.

 

Bill Auberlen, driver (#28): “I think I officially went to character building school at the race in Virginia. The STR team worked hard to give us an amazing BMW M4 GT3, so much so that we qualified P2. Immediately, we jumped into the lead and pulled away from the championship leading #120 Porsche. All was going great. Until it wasn’t! A poorly timed yellow flag ruined our race. In race two, we carved our way through the field to get to the front where we battled 1-2-3, nose to tail for the lead, until contact with the #120 car meant that I had to serve a drive through penalty. Apologies to the #120 team who have been the benchmark all season long. Now, we pack it up and get ready for Road America, which I love by the way. I hope to see you all there!”

 

Samantha Tan withstood enormous pressure in the closing stages to bring the sister #38 BMW home 2nd in PRO/AM and secure a second successive 6th overall at VIR.

 

Samantha Tan Racing continues its GT World Challenge America campaign with round five at Road America on 16-18 August. A happy hunting ground for the team, ST Racing took its first overall win in the GTWC America last year at Elkhart Lake.