Samantha Tan and Jon Miller in the #438 M4 GT4 won the TG Class in the Hankook Six Hours of Abu Dhabi, making it two wins on two consecutive weekends for ST Racing. The Abu Dhabi victory follows a class win for the team in the 24 Hours of Dubai, where Tan and Miller shared the car with Nick Wittmer and Chandler Hull.
The six-hour race, run on the Yas Marina circuit, was a non-championship race in the 24-hour series; the Dubai race was the series’ season opener. ST Racing is contesting the entire series this year.
Miller, starting from pole, pulled a second ahead of the pack on his first stint. A difficult pit stop when Tan took over set the car back; she recovered to take the lead and do battle with the #101 Cupra TCR DSG. The Cupra took the lead and gained a lap advantage on the pack, but it had to retire with a mechanical problem with less than an hour remaining. After that, the BMW took command and held on for the win.
Samantha Tan said, “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 first 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.”
The team’s next 24-hour Series event will be the March 12 Hours of Mugello. ST Racing, winner of team championships in 2019 and 2020 in SRO GT4 America, will compete in the series in 2021. Whether the team will run the entire season or selected races has not yet been announced.—Brian Morgan
[Photo courtesy ST Racing.]
