"Came into this weekend with the same enthusiasm and knowledge from last season, and drove my heart out at Circuit of the Americas once again" - Samantha Tan dominated the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge bronze class at COTA, securing back-to-back class victories and claiming the lead in the championship standings.
Samantha Tan secured her first class victory in the IMSA VP Racing Sports Car Challenge, sweeping the weekend in the GTDX Bronze class at Circuit of The Americas, the second round of the series.
Tan has been making significant strides in global sports car racing, first climbing the SRO America ladder from touring cars to GT4, then contesting her first international campaigns, including a multiple-title-winning season in the 24H Series in 2021.
Soon after, the young Canadian—driver and owner of Samantha Tan Racing—stepped up to the GT3 platform, competing in GT World Challenge both in Europe and the U.S. In 2024, she was a standout competitor in the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am class, securing three class wins and ten podiums, ultimately earning the Vice-Champion title.
In 2025, Tan announced her debut in the IMSA support package following the introduction of the GTDX class in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. This season marks Samantha’s first solo racing campaign, and she tackled the first weekend at Daytona—supporting the Roar Before the 24—on a circuit where she had minimal prior experience.
Nevertheless, Samantha consistently fought for the overall GTDX podium and ultimately secured two runner-up finishes in the Bronze class, making for a highly encouraging debut.
Now heading to COTA for the second round, Samantha Tan Racing aimed to take a step higher. Tan has always been quick at the Texan venue and looked to capitalize on her experience at the circuit, albeit the series now using the shorter 3.862 km layout introduced this year as the series supported the NASCAR event.
At the wheel of her #38 BMW M4 GT3, Tan took the early lead in practice with 20 minutes to go in the session, becoming the first driver to dip below the 1:35 mark. Adam Adelson then found more time and topped GTDX overall, but Tan remained unbeaten in the Bronze class. She ended the session fourth overall with a 1:34.603, in a strong start to the weekend.
A similar outcome followed in the second practice session, with Tan making significant gains: she clocked a 1:33.566, moving up to second overall while continuing to lead the Bronze class midway through the session. By the end, she had maintained her top spot in Bronze, having improved by nearly a full second between sessions.
Later in the day came qualifying. In the opening minutes, Adelson took the overall lead, with Musial setting the early benchmark in the Bronze class. Tan’s first representative lap was a 1:35.332, placing her sixth overall in GTDX and second among the Bronze drivers. She then improved to a 1:34.4, claiming the top spot in Bronze and closing in on the overall top three with five minutes left on the clock.
Samantha then broke into the 1:33s for the first time, setting a 1:33.971, giving her almost a one-second margin over the second-fastest Bronze driver, Musial. As the checkered flag fell, Tan secured the Bronze class pole position and finished fifth overall in a strong qualifying session, which was led by the Turner Motorsport BMW of Walker in the overall GTDX category.
On Saturday morning, it was time for the first race of the weekend, with Samantha starting from fifth overall and on pole for the Bronze class in her first race on the shorter COTA layout. As the green flag waved, several GTDX cars jostled for position; Tan got boxed in at Turn 1 and dropped to seventh overall and third among the Bronze entries, now chasing Kyle Washington.
The Canadian made a successful move on the GMG Racing Porsche on lap 3, reclaiming second in class. She then set her sights on Musial’s Conquest Racing Ferrari, the class leader.
In clear air, Samantha was immediately faster, clocking a 1:35.1, gaining a full second, and overtakook Musial just one lap later to reclaim the top spot and move up to fifth overall by lap 4.
Perez Companc was not far ahead. As Tan dipped under the 1:35 mark, she continued to close in, just a few tenths behind the AF Corse Ferrari in fourth overall. On lap 5, she made another clean pass, moving up another position.
Just ahead, GTDX leader Adam Adelson spun in the Esses while battling with the Turner Motorsport BMW of Walker. As the Wright Motorsport Porsche went around, Tan was right behind, trying to capitalize on the situation while also fending off Perez Companc.
While Adelson managed to recover and open a one-second buffer, Tan pulled away from Perez Companc, running consistently in fourth overall and maintaining her lead in the Bronze class.
Tan settled into her rhythm, setting a best lap of 1:33.7 while keeping the gap to Adelson stable. However, lapped GSX traffic allowed Perez Companc to close back in. By lap 13, Samantha had shrugged off the pressure once again and was back within striking distance of Adelson, running competitive lap times.
With 18 minutes to go, Muss attempted an overambitious move on GSX frontrunner Walsh; the second-placed Ferrari collided with the BMW M4 GT4, sending it into the barriers, but the race remained green.
Without interruptions, Tan continued her charge in fourth overall. However, in the final five minutes, Perez Companc intensified the pressure. As several cars ran out of fuel on the final lap, Perez Companc managed to sneak past, taking fourth overall in GTDX. Tan tried to fight back but crossed the line just one-tenth behind.
Crucially, she retained the Bronze class lead, securing her first victory in the IMSA VP Racing Sports Car Challenge. Tan was also the first Bronze-rated driver to finish across all classes.
Later in the afternoon, it was time for the second and final race of the weekend. The driver-owner of Samantha Tan Racing aimed to build on her earlier success and secure back-to-back class wins. She started fourth overall in GTDX and once again led the Bronze class.
At the green flag, Tan took the outside line into Turn 1 while the two AF Corse Ferraris of Muss and Perez Companc dived to the inside. Playing it safe to avoid contact, she dropped to sixth overall and second in Bronze, with Kyle Washington’s GMG Porsche slipping ahead.
However, her pace was immediately stronger than the #32 Porsche. She applied pressure on Washington while also opening a gap to the cars behind, including the #95 Turner Motorsport BMW of Barletta and the Lone Star Racing Mercedes of Austin.
Tan gained a position overall in GTDX when Adam Adelson pitted with a puncture on lap 3, and she continued to run right behind Washington. She stayed patient and executed a clean overtake on lap 7, reclaiming the Bronze class lead with 32 minutes remaining.
Once ahead, Tan immediately opened a two-second gap and set her sights on Perez Companc, who was three seconds up the road. She went under the 1:35 mark and was nearly a second faster per lap. By lap 11, she had closed the gap to within one second of the #50 Ferrari. However, Perez Companc responded and maintained the gap over the next few laps.
As the race settled, Tan controlled fourth overall and remained the Bronze leader. However, with 10 minutes to go, Washington began closing in again. With three minutes left, Perez Companc, Tan, and Washington were separated by just a few seconds, all battling for the final spot on the overall GTDX podium.
On the final lap, Tan held her ground and took the checkered flag once again as the top Bronze-rated driver in the field, securing her second class win of the day.
The Canadian finished just one second shy of her first overall podium, concluding a strong second weekend in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge at Circuit of the Americas.
“This one is for the girls!" - Samantha commented. "Another weekend sweep at one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. Came into this weekend with the same enthusiasm and knowledge from last season, and drove my heart out at Circuit of the Americas once again", she continued. "It’s always such a pleasure to drive here."
"Huge thank you to my team for the incredible car — it was on rails! we’ve got a bit of a break until Mid Ohio but I’ll be announcing my upcoming April race very soon. Thank you everyone who came to support and tuned in!”
Tan now sits fourth in the GTDX overall standings with 1,060 points and leads the Bronze class with 1,340 points, holding a 90-point advantage over Kyle Washington after the first two doubleheaders.
The IMSA VP Racing Sports Car Challenge will return to action on June 6-8.