News

In a departure from the norm, this year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour featured the fields of both the GT World Challenge America and the Intercontinental GT Challenge, pitting ST Racing against a brand-new flotilla of experienced, European competitors.

Nevertheless, Samantha Tan Racing came into the final round of this year’s GT World Challenge America confident of a strong showing, following its podium finish at the same event on its previous appearance in 2020. Momentum certainly seemed to be on the Canadian team’s side when, after the #38 M4 showed consistently strong pace throughout Free Practice, ST Racing stormed into the top 10 shootout during Friday’s Qualifying session. A 1m 22.966s thereafter from team staple Nick Wittmer proved sufficiently rapid to secure a fifth-row spot on the starting grid.

Similarly rapid pace on Saturday afternoon saw Nick scythe his way through the field into the overall top five during a monster opening stint. So scintillating was Nick’s performance, the #38 BMW even led the GT World Challenge American contingent outright after the opening hour. Teammate Harry Gottsacker continued to keep the BMW at the sharp end of proceedings during his own first stint.

Speedy work from ST Racing’s mechanics and engineers, plus renewed focus from Harry and an ever-improving stint from Samantha, meant the Silver class BMW M4 was soon harrying faster IGTC contenders ahead of it as the race moved into its closing stages. After another exemplary performance, Nick managed to hold-off race-long rival Conquest Racing to collect the chequered flag 9^th overall and as the 6^th highest-placed contender in the GT World Challenge America field.

Fittingly, ST Racing thus rounds out its maiden GT World Challenge campaign with the BMW M4 GT3 with a hard-earned Silver class win.

Samantha Tan, co-owner / driver: “I’m so proud of everyone on Samantha Tan Racing. We finished 9th overall, 1st in class at the Indy 8H! Despite the fueling issues we faced at the end of the race, we had strong pace throughout and we really showed the talent we have on this team. Looking back at this season, I have nothing but respect and pride for my codrivers and my team. We’ve had highs and lows but we’ve come out stronger and more knowledgeable every single time. We’ve won races, broken track records, and made history, and I wouldn’t want to accomplish this with any other group of people. Thank you to BMW Motorsport, Motul, Endless, KW, HRX, and all our fans for the support this year, we can’t wait to achieve more with you.”

Nick Wittmer, driver: “We had a very good week of testing leading up to the Indianapolis 8 Hour. The track suited our car well and we capitalized on our car’s straight line speed to make it into the top 10 shootout and qualify on the 5th row. On Saturday, we had a solid race with good pace, keeping the car out of trouble and we brought it home in the top 10 overall. A huge thank you to the crew for their hard work as always and for putting together a great race car!”

Harry Gottsacker, driver: “We really showed the potential of our ST Racing team and the BMW M4 GT3 this weekend at Indianapolis. From making the super pole to running in the top 5 during the race, it was a strong performance for the team all around. We really approached the weekend as an opportunity to learn and measure ourselves against some of the best teams in the world. It was a fun weekend and I can’t wait to get back in the car!”