Samantha Tan to make IMSA debut in VP Racing SportsCar Challenge

Samantha Tan will make her IMSA debut in 2025, competing full-time in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge's new GTDX class with her ST Racing BMW M4 GT3, in her first solo campaign.

Photo credits: Fabian Lagunas

Samantha Tan is set to make her IMSA debut in 2025, as the driver-owner of ST Racing will compete in the full season of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, in the new GTDX class.

It will be her first full solo campaign with the BMW M4 GT3 machine, which she has so far raced in the Creventic 24H Series - where she claimed the first global win for the new-gen M4 GT3 at the 12H of Mugello in 2022 - as well as in the 2023 and 2024 GT World Challenge America, where she was crowned ProAm Vice-Champion with 3 class victories and 10 podiums.

Tan, a BMW Motorsport Ambassador, is therefore stepping into the IMSA package for the first time, contesting her first season in support of North America's premier sports car series in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, a platform aimed to LMP3, GT4 and now also GT3 machines with new GTDX class.

“I’m thrilled to announce my step into IMSA for 2025, one of the most competitive and prestigious racing series in North America", Samantha commented. "My first full GT3 season this year was incredibly rewarding, pushing me to maximize every moment on and off the track."

"I’m eager to take on the challenge of a new multi-class format with LMP3, GT3, and GT4 cars, continuing to sharpen my skills against some of the best in the sport. I’m entering this season with a fire in my heart and my sights set firmly on the VP Challenge championship title.”

Tan's rise up the ranks for sport car racing started in 2015 with her first competitions in touring cars, racing on the Pirelli World Challenge platform. As driver/owner at ST Racing, which she co-owns with her father Kenneth, Samantha then progressed to GT4 competitions, and was second in the 2019 GT4 America Sprint X West ProAm class. She was third one year later in the GT4 America Sprint X, while also embarking on her first international campaign, in the 24H Series in 2021.

Aboard the ST Racing BMW M4 GT4, , she would secure both the class and overall titles, in a stellar campaign that saw the Canadian collecting valuable multi-class racing experience.

In 2022 the team graduated to the M4 GT3 platform, taking victory at Mugello, before committing to the first full season in GT World Challenge in 2023 - where Samantha also drove the Endurance Cup of the European series, finishing third with a ProAm class win to her name.

A remarkable 2024 season saw Tan sharing the car with Neil Verhagen again in GT World Challenge America, barely missing out on the ProAm title; at the same time she made one-off appearances in GT4 Europe at Spa Francorchamps, took a class win at the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie, and a podium in a solo run at Long Beach in the GT America championship.

The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge therefore represents another step for Tan towards a potential GTD entry in the future, further honing her skills aboard a car that she has good knowledge of.

“Our team has been interested to compete in IMSA since 2022 but circumstances were not ideal for an entry", Kenneth Tan added. "We are finally taking that step and IMSA’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge is a great way for us to get our feet wet into a new world called IMSA."

"We had a small taste when Samantha ran in the IMSA-officiated Ferrari Challenge a couple of years ago but that is not the same. This definitely will be a new challenge for our team and we are very much looking forward to it as that is what makes racing so exciting for us. Can’t wait to be at Daytona next month!”

The championship features a six-round, 12-race calendar, starting with the 'Roar before the Rolex 24' weekend in Daytona, on 17-19 January.

COTA will host the second round, before races at Mid Ohio SportsCar Course and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, in what will be Tan's home event. VIRginia International Raceway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will round out the schedule in August and October.