Tag: @STR_Racing

Two in a row! ST Racing takes TG division win at the Hankook 6H Abu Dhabi
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Two in a row! ST Racing takes TG division win at the Hankook 6H Abu Dhabi

ST Racing Release:

Abu Dhabi (UAE), January 24, 2021 – Following on from a successful start to its season at the Hankook 24H DUBAI, Canada’s ST Racing has gone two-for-two in as many weekends by securing TG division victory at the Hankook 6H ABU DHABI.

Last weekend, Samantha Tan, Chandler Hull, Jon Miller, and Nick Wittmer took a sensational GT4 class win at the Hankook 24H DUBAI hosted by CREVENTIC at the Dubai Autodrome. One week on, ST Racing is once again on the top step of the podium following a commanding TG division win for Samantha Tan and Jon Miller aboard the #438 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 at the non-championship Hankook 6H ABU DHABI. An impressive feat, considering this is the first time the Ontario-based team has competed at the vaunted Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Jon Miller got the team’s weekend off to the best possible start with the fastest TG lap of all in qualifying – a 2m 23.473s – and in his opening 90-minute stint, Jon further demonstrated the tremendous pace of the BMW M4 GT4 by pulling almost a full minute clear of the chasing pack. Poor luck during the first stop for fuel meant Samantha, now at the wheel, had it all to do during her first time run of the event, but the Ontario-native impressed with a charging drive to retake the TG division lead shorty thereafter. Always quick to adapt to any situation, ST Racing’s engineers worked furiously to revise its strategy and reduce time spent on pit road as much as possible.

In the end, and with some added good fortune, ST Racing completed 130 laps of the 5.554km Yas Marina Circuit to take a commanding second win of the 24H SERIES season, securing the fastest lap of any TG runner – a 2m 22.787s – in the process.

Team principal, Kenneth Tan: “It was another nail-biter of a race. I thought this was going to be a cakewalk, but five hours into the six-hour race, I was pacing in the paddock wondering whether we were going to make it or not. With 40 minutes to go, we were two laps down from the class leader. They still had to do another pit stop but they didn’t need much gas, so it was always going to be very close. Unfortunately their car broke down and we secured 1stplace. I took a deep sigh of relief and felt so proud of our team. We did it again! And then, when they played the Canadian anthem while Samantha was on the podium receiving a trophy, I was overwhelmed with emotion and got teary-eyed. I just felt so proud. It has been a lot of work but it has all been worth it! I am looking forward to our next race in Mugello.”

Driver, Samantha Tan: “What a great way to start 2021, with two back-to-back wins! It was an incredible experience getting to drive the famed Yas Marina Circuit. I steadily dropped my lap times over the course of the three practice sessions, which set me up perfectly for the race. The team gave us an amazing car once again, so Jon put the car on pole during qualifying. The race went relatively smoothly, however the refueling took an extensive amount of time, which caused us to change our strategy throughout the race. But we pushed hard for the last hour and brought the car home 1st in-class. Altogether it was a stellar run by Jon and I, and I’m so proud to bring home another win with my team. It was so special to have the Canadian anthem played at the podium. Definitely a weekend to remember.”

Driver, Jon Miller: ““It’s a dream result to win the Hankook 24H DUBAI and then follow it up with a win in Abu Dhabi one week later. ST Racing came here prepared to fight for wins, and the results are validation of our effort to show up with all of the right pieces in place. There was some pre-race drama when the crew was thrashing to fix a mechanical issue discovered minutes before the green flag. I was the last car to the grid, but the issue was resolved and our BMW M4 GT4 proved to be fast and reliable. Samantha drove two killer stints and was behind the wheel atthe chequered flag, which I know was a special moment for her. When the Canadian national anthem played during the podium ceremony, I could see the pride beaming from my teammates’ faces. We’re proud of our early season results, and more motivated than ever to keep pushing for more.”

With two wins already under its belt in 2021, attention for ST Racing now turns to round three of the 24H SERIES – the Hankook 12H MUGELLO – set to take place at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello on 26-27 March. One month later, Samantha Tan will strike a long-held item from her bucket list when she competes for the first time at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps as part of the Hankook 12H SPA on 23-24-25 April.

2021 Calendar

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

  1. Hankook 24H Dubai: January 14-15-16 2021 – WIN
  2. Hankook 6H Abu Dhabi (non-championship), Jan 22-23 2021 – WIN
  3. Hankook 12H Mugello: March 26-27 2021
  4. Hankook 12H Spa-Francorchamps: April 23-24-25 2021
  5. Hankook 12H Hockenheimring: May 22-23 2021
  6. Hankook 24H Portimao: July 16-17-18 2021
  7. Hankook 24H Barcelona: September 03-04-05 2021
  8. Coppa Florio Hankook 12H Sicily: October 01-02-03 2021
  9. Hankook 24H Sebring: November 12-13-14 2021

 

Qualifying results: https://bit.ly/2LVWokF

Race results: https://bit.ly/3c78hPy

ST Racing Wins The Hankook 24H DUBAI.
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ST Racing Wins The Hankook 24H DUBAI.

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 1st in class. It got close with 2nd 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

Posted by admin on in World Challenge

Samantha Tan Racing Announces 2019 Plans

 

ST Racing Press Release:

Toronto, Ont. (December 17, 2018) – ST Racing announced today their plans for 2019 which include a new teammate for Canadian driver Samantha Tan. Twenty-four-year old Jason Wolfe will be co-driving the #38 GPI-BMW M4 GT4 in the GTS SprintX Pro-Am class alongside Tan.

“I am extremely happy with the opportunity to be able to join Samantha in the beginning stages of her path to 24-hour races. Racing together with Sam back in 2015 with Kinetic Motorsports showed we worked well together as a team and I noticed right away she had a lot of passion for the sport. More importantly, during that time I saw a lot of things click and develop with her driving. To me, this shows a lot of promise for the years to come.  I have kept up on her racing these past few years and she has clearly grown as a driver. I am excited to see what we can accomplish together as we share the car in 2019.”

Born in Mount Vernon (Ohio) in 1994, Wolfe started karting in 2004, then moved over to open-wheel racing in 2010 with Skip Barber Racing, Formula BMW, and Formula Enterprise Club Racing. As he gained more experience, Wolfe went over to USF2000 in 2012-13. However, fate would take him to Pirelli World Challenge sports car racing in 2014 with Kinetic Motorsports where he promptly scored 11 podiums with six wins in the TCA class. It became clear that the young American was destined to succeed in sports cars, as the following year, he collected more podiums and captured the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge TCA Championship with eight wins. In 2016, Wolfe ran a mix of PWC TCA and GTS races, along with the 24-Hour of Portimao. In the last two years, Wolfe competed in Europe in the ADAC TCR German Touring Car Championship and then switched over to British GT driving a Jaguar GT4 in the PRO/AM class with Invictus games, racing with wounded ex-servicemen as co-drivers.

Samantha Tan holds fond memories of her racing days in 2015 with ex-teammate Wolfe and is looking forward to driving with him again in 2019.

 

“Thinking about the new season” said Tan, “I am extremely excited to be able to go racing again! I’d like to give a warm welcome to my new teammate Jason Wolfe. We actually first met and were teammates in my first year of Pirelli World Challenge with Kinetic Motorsports. I think it’s great that we are able to work together again and I am excited to see how this season goes for us! I’d also like to give a big thank you to my close friend and teammate Nick Wittmer”, she added. “He has definitely helped me develop into a better driver and made every weekend so much fun. Although we won’t be on the same team again this year, I wish him all the best!. I know that with his fast driving skills and extensive racing knowledge, he will be successful wherever he chooses to go.”  

Tan plans to continue to put all her energy and focus on both her university studies and her racing in the upcoming season. Being a full-time student means having two full-time jobs. Not an easy task. However, the young Canadian racer has everything it takes to succeed, and she plans on doing so, no matter what it takes. PWC’s changes to the GTS-SprintX program and schedule has made this slightly easier as she does not have to travel as far to the race tracks from her home in Irvine, CA.

A new coach with years of experience in motorsports has also been brought on board for both ST Racing drivers. Coach Niclas Jonnson, a racer himself, wasted no time in putting together an elaborate physical fitness program and nutritional performance diet for his proteges. Serious training starts after the Holidays. Jonnson will be coaching both drivers at all the races.

Team Principal Kenneth Tan commented on the Team’s goals for 2019. “We’re very excited about our plans for 2019 and the new direction we are undertaking for the years ahead.  It’s basically an evolutionary strategy for Samantha and the team and will improve our capabilities.  To help us make that goal a reality, we are joined by Nic Jonnson, a highly-respected and deeply experienced race car driver in both Europe and North America, and Jason Wolfe, a two-time champion at PWC, to become Samantha’s coach and co-driver, respectively.  Their addition tremendously increases our team’s capabilities and will be instrumental in fulfilling Samantha’s and the team’s goals.  Having said that, we do have a lot of work ahead of us but I feel we will have improved as a team for 2019.  I can’t wait for the new season to start!”

ST Racing’s season starts on March 1st at the famed F1 Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Four other race weekends will make up the 2019 West Championship for the Pirelli GT4 America. The schedule is as follows:

March 1-3                          COTA

March 29-31                    Laguna Seca

June 7-9                              Sonoma

July 12-14                         Portland

Oct 26-28                          Las Vegas

 

Posted by admin on in World Challenge

Three Podiums and a Historic First for ST RACING at COTA’S Grand Prix of Texas

 

Austin, TX (March 26, 2018) – ST Racing took advantage of Pirelli World Challenge’s off-season to make some exciting changes to the Team by acquiring new race cars, adding 2 teammates to their line-up and moving up to the GTS SprintX category.

And what better place to try out their new BMW M4 GT4 than the fabulous 20-turn 3.4-mile racetrack at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the Pirelli World Challenge season opener. And what an awesome weekend it was! A first in World Challenge history with two women on podium.

In Race 1, as soon as the green flag flew, two back-to-back full-course cautions came out due to incidents resulting in very few laps of green time for both Samantha Tan and Aurora Straus. However, both Straus and Tan managed to avoid the carnage, and gained positions on the re-starts in time for the half-way pit window.

Tan talked about the beginning of the race and her very first pit stop. “At the beginning of the race, when those incidents happened, I did my best to avoid everything coming at me. I kept the car clean. My entire race was pretty much under yellow, but I am so happy and proud of Nick for getting the Hard Charger Award.”

“My pit stop went really well” she added. “I got everything shut off, I even put the steering wheel back, I got it all set up for Nick, and I got out of the car as fast as possible. It went really smoothly.”

Tan’s co-driver Nick Wittmer was on fire from the very first moment he joined the 37-car field. He started picking off the cars, one by one, worked his way back up the field in his #38 BMW M4 GT4 to finish 6th overall while recording the fastest lap of the race and putting him on pole for Sunday’s Round 2. His excellent performance also earned him the Hard Charger Award.

 “The ST Racing Team who did a great job preparing the car for Samantha to start the race. With all the crashes at the beginning of the race, Samantha avoided the problems beautifully, and started passing other cars while staying out the debris. She came into the pits, we nailed our pit stop, we went back out. The McNight (Nick’s nickname) mode kicked in, I put the knife between my teeth and started picking off one car after another. I ended up getting the Hard Charger Award, the fastest lap and pole position for Race 2. That was awesome. Thank you Samantha Tan Racing.”

Meanwhile Straus had moved up to fifth place in a flawless drive before pitting and handing the #36 BMW M4 GT4 over to her co-driver, Al Carter. Carter drove a hard race, finished 11th overall, bringing home a 2nd place finish in the Am category.

Aurora was all smiles after the race. “I couldn’t be happier to have started off my debut season in Pirelli World Challenge with a P3 qualifying and a P2 finish (Am category). Thanks to the expertise of Samantha Tan Racing and the precise handling of the BMW, my job today was easy. I have so many people to thank – Al Carter, for one, drove his heart out today, and I wouldn’t have ever had the opportunity to drive this car in the first place without Nick Longhi; I owe everything to him. This has been a magical weekend so far, with this and Good Morning America all in the works. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow”.

Straus’ co-driver, Al Carter commented, “That was a busy drive. Aurora had a great qualifying session giving us a great starting position. She had a really good start then drove under yellow before bringing it into the pits. From the time I exited the pits, I was in a constant battle during my whole stint. I had a lot of fun out there. I was proud to bring home a podium for my first race here in Pirelli World Challenge and for ST Racing. It was a privilege to drive that car on track.”

Sunday morning, under moist conditions, Race 2 was yet another exciting moment for the whole Team. Nick Wittmer started on pole but lost a position on Lap 1. The rest of his stint was a constant battle to regain the lead. He ended up pitting while still in 2nd position. When his co-driver Samantha Tan went out, she took the lead and held it for a few laps, when a full-course yellow came out due to an incident. On the re-start, she drove impressively to protect her position. After some solid driving and battling it out to keep her lead, she got passed by 2 cars. Another full-course yellow came out, and the race ended under caution with Tan in 3rd place.

And to cap things off, the duo Straus-Carter finished 1st in the Am class for a total of 3 podiums for ST Racing this weekend. Al Carter earned the Hard Charger Award in Race 2. And, how about the fact that two women led a race for the first time in World Challenge history.

 

Posted by admin on in World Challenge

@WCRacing Race Results from Sunday at @COTA

 

 

Sunday saw 5 Canadian drivers and two teams hit the podium at COTA.

Class Car # Class Finish Car Make / Model Driver
GT SX Pro – Pro 2  4th Mercedes-AMG GT3 Daniel Morad
GT SX Pro – Pro 61  FIRST Ferrari 488 GT4 R. Ferri Motorsport
GT SX Pro – Pro 96  THIRD Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) Scott Hargrove
GT SX Pro – Am 31  FIRST Ferrari 488 GT3 Wei Lu
GTS SX Pro – Am 13  19th Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR Orey Fidani / Kyle Marcelli
GTS SX Am 36  FIRST BMW M4 GT4 ST Racing
GTS SX Pro – Am 38  THIRD BMW M4 GT4 Samantha Tan / Nick Wittmer
GTS SX Pro – Am 55  6th FORD Mustang GT4 Jade Buford / Scott Maxwell
GTS SX Pro – Am 62  17th McLaren 570S GT4 Max Riddle / Mark Klenin
GTS SX Pro – Am 78  5th McLaren 570S GT4 Compass Racing
GTS SX Am 54  14th SIN R1 Mark Pavan
TCR 2  6th Audi Sport RS3 LMS Jerimy Daniel
TCR 99  FIRST Hyundai I30 N TCR Mark Wilkins
TC 27  9th BMW M235iR Cup Jayson Clunie
TC 91  5th BMW M235iR Cup Karl Wittmer
TCA 25  THIRD Subaru BRZ tS P.J. Groenke