Tag: @nick_wittmer

January 27, 2023.- ST Racing is pleased to announce it will return to the GT World Challenge America as part of its racing program in 2023.

In a part-campaign in GTWC America in 2022, Samantha Tan Racing completed solid outings at both Sonoma Raceway and the Virginia International Raceway, during which the speed of the team’s BMW M4 GT3 was put beyond doubt, before Samantha Tan, Nick Wittmer and Harry Gottsacker rounded out the season with a Silver Cup class win and a top 10 finish overall at the Indianapolis 8 Hours.

Prior to that, ST Racing’s lofty accomplishments with SRO include both West Pro-Am Cup Teams’ and Drivers’ championships in 2019, and SprintX Teams’ honours in 2020, both as part of the Pirelli GT4 America series.

With momentum on its side, ST Racing will look to further establish the M4 GT3’s credibility on the North American stages in 2023. The #38 BMW will be driven at all rounds by team co-owner Samantha Tan, with her teammates set to be revealed in due course.

Samantha Tan, co-owner / driver: “I’m ecstatic to be back in the GTWC paddock again – this time for the full season! We were met with many difficulties last year which prevented us from competing at the majority of events, but we will once again step up for the challenge this upcoming season. This year, our BMW M4 GT3 will be run by the STR38 Motorsports crew, a team of highly experienced and dedicated engineers/mechanics from around the world managed by a familiar face, Jon Miller. I look forward to another great year of racing with SRO!”

The GTWC is scheduled to begin at the Sonoma Raceway on 30 March to 2 April, followed later that month with rounds three and four at NOLA Motorsports Park on 28-30 April.

Rounds five and six take place on 19-21 May at the Circuit of the Americas. The Texan facility has proven particularly successful for Samantha Tan Racing over the years, with the Canadian team taking SprintX Pro-Am and TC class wins at COTA in Pirelli GT4 America, as well as podium finishes in TC America.

The Virginia International Raceway, another fruitful hunting ground for ST Racing, will host rounds seven and eight on 16-18 June, with the GTWC North America returning to action at Road America on 18-20 August after the series’ summer break. After the penultimate weekend at the vaunted Sebring International Raceway on 22-24 September, the GTWC North America draws to a close at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 5-6-7 October.

June 8, 2021.- ST Racing secured another podium in TC America at the Virginia International Raceway on a weekend when its BMW M4 GT4 also shined in the headlining GT4 America Series.

The weekend got off to a superb start when Nick Wittmer, once again on substitute duties in place of Bryson Lew, set a storming 1m 54.364s in first qualifying, netting the #38 BMW M4 GT4 3^rd on the grid for race one. This marks ST Racing’s strongest qualifying performance of the year in the GT4 America Series.

With momentum on his side, Nick made an equally impressive start to race one, moving the ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 into 2^nd overall with a resolute pass into turn one. The sheer might of the BMW’s 3-litre M TwinPower Turbo six-cylinder allowed Nick to keep the leader in his sights down VIR’s awesome back straight. Contact shortly afterwards however ultimately meant this pace would not last, though both Nick and teammate Tomas Mejia gamely managed to bring the #38 BMW home 6^th in the Silver class.

A truncated second qualifying session meant Tomas Mejia started 23^rd overall for race two, but the young Californian, still in his maiden GT4 season with ST Racing, put on a fighting display during his opening stint on Sunday morning, passing 10 cars on-track before bringing the #38 BMW in for the regulatory pit stop. Unfortunately, whilst running 2^nd in-class, Nick Wittmer was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. Proving his pace on Saturday was no flash in the pan, Nick dutifully brought the M4 home 11^th overall – 12 positions up from its starting position – and 4^th in the Silver class.

Samantha Tan meanwhile, back for her second TC America race weekend of the season in the sister BMW M2 CS, continued to showcase her ever-developing pace and maturity across both 40-minute races at VIR. Having qualified 5^th in the TCX class for race one, Samantha made a bold move down the back-straight on the opening lap to move into 4^th. Despite an off-track moment late in the race, ‘assisted’ as she was by three cars going side-by-side into turn one, Samantha nevertheless managed to secure a solid 5^thin-class at the flag. On Sunday, another feisty start meant the #438 M2 was in the thick of the fight for 3^rd place from the get-go, Samantha dutifully taking the position when her principal opponents ran wide on lap two. A heavy clash in the race’s TCA category meant race two was eventually red-flagged, thus securing Samantha Tan her third podium finish from four TC America starts so far in 2021.

ST Racing Release:

Dubai (UAE), January 17, 2021 – ST Racing took the GT4-class win during the highly competitive Creventic Series Hankook 24H of Dubai, taking place at the Dubai Autodrome this past weekend. Samantha Tan, Chandler Hull, Jon Miller, and Nick Wittmer co-drove the #438 BMW M4 GT4 to a win, claiming their first trophies of the season.

The Canadian outfit traveled to the United Arab Emirates to take part in their second Dubai 24H. The team could have claimed the win in 2020, but last year’s race was cut short due to a heavy rainstorm. This time around, the weather was ideal and the team came prepared to this event knowing they could repeat their feat very well.

On Thursday prior to the race, Nick Wittmer set an impressive time of 2:08.824 during qualifying, putting the #438 at the front of the GT4 field. As per the series rules, the car qualifies, not the driver. Therefore, 23 years-old Samantha Tan was set to start the 24-hour race on Friday afternoon. After a hectic first few laps where Tan lost valuable time fighting with cars around her, there was a Code 60 caused by a fellow competitor. The team decided to bring Tan down pit lane right away for fuel. Back on track, her focus was on taking the lead back again. Thanks to several stellar stints between her and Chandler Hull, they were able to regain the lead and keep it…until the very end!

“We won the Dubai 24H!!!” said with enthusiasm Samantha Tan, driver of the #438 car. “It honestly felt like a flawless race. We spent the majority of it first in class! My co-drivers all did an incredible job. I started the race, trying to be aggressive but also having to remind myself that it’s a long race ahead and keep the car clean. There was a Code 60 right at the start, so the team decided to bring me in to top up on fuel so I could run for almost 2 hours. I did back to back stints with Chandler until it got dark, while Nick and Jon drove through the night.”

She continued saying: “I had a stellar night stint, passing many cars and putting our BMW M4 back into 1^st in class. It got close with 2^nd place after the halfway mark in the race, but during the last 6 hours, we all put in our best effort and gave ourselves a 3-lap lead. The car was amazing the entire race; I can’t thank my team enough for their hard work on giving us the best car and for the perfectly executed pit stops. This is my first pro win, and I’m so happy to share it with my ST Racing family. This win is for all of us, and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season!”

Nick Wittmer, who took the checkered flag, echoed Samantha’s thoughts on the flawless execution: “it was my first 24-hour race, and we won it! There were no issues at all; ST Racing did an amazing job preparing the car to run a full day.”

Jon Miller couldn’t help but reminisce on the Dubai 24H 2020: “Last year’s Dubai 24 was red-flagged for torrential rain after 7 hours, and after qualifying on pole and running up front, we came away disappointed with unfinished business. Showing up this year and replicating our pole position and strong pace, it’s incredibly satisfying for the whole team to finish the job and WIN the Dubai 24!”

For Jon, it was a team win: “the story of our race comes down to the crew executing fast pit stops for 24 hours and running a winning strategy with a BMW that was fast and easy to drive. Samantha and Chandler drove an awesome five stints, going back to back for the first 6 hours before Nick and I took over at night – and they handed us the car in P1. It takes everything and then some, with a little luck sprinkled in, to win a race like this. We’ll use it as motivation to keep pushing hard all season.”

“There’s no better way to start a new race season than winning, let alone winning a 24-hour race,” said Chandler Hull, more motivated than ever. “I am beyond grateful for the ST Racing group to have let me come along, and a huge thanks to the crew that worked their magic behind the scenes to give us a car that could fight for 24 hours. I’m looking forward to next weekend at Yas Marina for another 6 hours and can’t wait to keep this momentum up for the rest of the season.”

Kenneth Tan, Samantha Tan’s father, and Team Principal, only had good things to say about the event “I am so proud of our team! It was a team effort that won us the race. The drivers worked together to ensure efficient lap times and to take good care of the car: no curbs! The person responsible for data calculated and effectively carried out a dynamic pit stop strategy together with the drivers and our crew chief and head mechanic who, I think, ultimately won us the race. I am so proud of the team and so proud of Sam. She drove amazingly fast, especially during the night! This was by far the most exhilarating win yet for our young team, and the best part is that we had a lot of fun achieving it together. Go STR!”

The team’s next race will be as soon as this coming weekend at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. This will be a 6-hour race which is not part of the official calendar of the 24H Series. After Abu Dhabi, the team will have two months’ break until the next race in Mugello (Italy), where they will be looking at keeping their momentum going.

 

2021 Calendar

 

ST Racing will take part in all 8 events of the 2021 24H Series season.

 

Hankook 24H Dubai: January 14-15-16 2021 – WIN

Extra – 6H Abu Dhabi, Jan 22-23

Hankook 12H Mugello: March 26-27 2021

Hankook 12H Spa-Francorchamps: April 23-24-25 2021

Hankook 12H Hockenheimring: May 22-23 2021

Hankook 24H Portimao: July 16-17-18 2021

Hankook 24H Barcelona: September 03-04-05 2021

Coppa Florio Hankook 12H Sicily: October 01-02-03 2021

Hankook 24H Sebring: November 12-13-14 2021