“This has not been an easy journey. By its very nature, motorsport is a tough and all too often brutal business that can take its toll on you, physically and mentally. As a young woman climbing the ladder in this predominantly male arena, I’ve faced my fair share of challenges,” says Samantha .

Samantha  started racing at an early age, her major influence being her father. “I got interested in racing because of my dad. I spent a lot of time with him growing up, so his interests had a big influence over me, which sparked my passion for cars and racing. I used to watch Formula One, go karting and attend  track days with him, so I learned to love the feeling of speed at a young age. When I was 14 years old, I attended the Ferrari Driving Experience at Circuit Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, and was the youngest ever participant. At the end of the event, attendees were offered to sit passenger in a Ferrari 458 Challenge race car for a hot lap with a pro driver. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. I vividly remember the extremely late braking, intense G-forces and acceleration. I was strapped into a 5-point harness, but being so little, my legs were still flailing around and I had to brace myself by gripping onto the belts. Although some people may find this terrifying, I remember having the biggest smile on my face. It was an incredible, unforgettable experience that ultimately inspired me to seriously pursue a racing career myself. I started racing when I was 16 years old in regional races around the US, and also competed in my first full national series, the Canadian Touring Car Championship, that same year in 2014. I moved to Pirelli World Challenge in 2015 and competed in the TCA Class with Kinetic Motorsports in a Kia Forte, and continued to compete in PWC for the next 6 years. Since then, I’ve been competing with BMW, created our amazing race team, Samantha Tan Racing, and won multiple championships. It’s been one hell of a journey, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

She started off her racing career with a Mini Cooper S in the 2014 Canadian Touring Car Championship and moved on to a Kia Forte Koup in the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge. After that she closed in on BMW as her brand for future races. “When we started the race team, it was around the same time as the launch of the BMW M235iR programme. My dad and I have always been BMW enthusiasts, and I already had plans to move up to TC. BMW was the only manufacturer that was supplying factory built race cars for TC and the BMW M235iR was very competitive that year. It was the best option at the time for us. It perfectly aligned with my future goals as I also wanted to make the transition back to RWD race cars.”

 Through the ages, racing has predominantly been gender biased and there are many misconceptions about female drivers. But Samantha has a great outlook on this divide. When we asked her about this, she said, “I get this question a lot, and I always like to start off with saying that one of the reasons why I love racing is because the car doesn’t care what gender or race you are. It only cares about whether you can handle it well.

“I have personally never been told that I couldn’t race because I’m a female. However, the gender discrimination that I, and many others, have experienced presents itself in more subtle ways, such as when we are judged or evaluated solely on our appearances, rather than the elite skill level we compete at. When people in the paddock question why we have been given a ride, or in other words, the opportunity to race. When people get offended by the fact that it’s my name over the door at Samantha Tan Racing. When people whistle at me wearing my driver’s suit. When I’ve been pushed off track, ending both of our races, because they couldn’t deal with getting beaten by a girl.  When people have tried to make me feel like their racial/sexual comments are compliments or that it’s ‘okay’. I can’t count the amount of times people have doubted the fact that I’m a driver, saying things like ‘ but you’re so small, so pretty, so gentle’ or ‘you’re more of a model than a race car driver’. My dad has been asked many times why he allows his daughter to compete in such a dangerous sport, and time and time again, he asks ‘would you question this if she were a boy?’. The fact of the matter is he raised my brother and I the same, as every parent should.

“I recently hosted BMW USA’s International Women’s Day event, and I wanted to share some words from the speech I presented there. ‘This has not been an easy journey.

“But I race because I choose to. Because I yearn to.  Because I aspire to prove that motorsport is no longer the boys club it once was. It’s a battleground that only the hungriest and most dedicated people – men AND women from all walks of life – can compete in nose-to-nose, and come out on top.

Tyres play a crucial role while racing, how do you as a racer manage to keep the race tyres at their optimum performance level?

One of the quintessential skills of a good racing driver is the ability to be at the limit of the tyre everywhere on track. To keep the tyres at their optimum performance level, you have to factor in everything: ambient temperature/track temperature, tyre pressures and degradation, avoiding pickup, heat cycles, throttle application and braking management.

The tyres have to be at the right temperature and pressures to be at their peak performance. This means avoiding the curbing during the outlap when the tyres are cold to prevent damage to the sidewalls and ensuring a proper warm up to bring the tyres up to temperature. As the tyres begin to wear, you have less grip and have to worry more about unnecessary understeer and oversteer, or in other words, not overdriving the car, because it’ll put additional temperature into the tyre and wear it out even faster. Braking progressively also adds additional heat into the tyre.

Ultimately, it’s about balancing the car, keeping it at the limit of adhesion and maximising the grip of the tyre by adapting to track conditions.

Over the years that you’ve raced, have you experienced how different tyres behave on a track and do the changes in the Pirelli tyres make a difference in  the years gone by to the current ones?

I have experienced different tyres and their unique behaviours on track! For example, I have tried both slicks and rains from manufacturers such as Pirelli, Hankook, Michelin and Toyo. They all have their own distinctive characteristics and feel on track, but they also all share something in common: the manufacturers are always working to improve the composition and structure of the tyres. As the cars consistently get faster, the tyre compounds must also improve to match that performance increase.

Starting a racing company while still getting a graduation from college must have been tough. Could you take us through your thought process, the hurdles and the overall vision you have for yourself and the team?

It was extremely difficult balancing school and racing. When I started racing in 2014, I was transitioning from my last year of high school to university. I actually missed my high school graduation because I was competing at the Toronto Indy event in CTCC! I completed my degree in economics at the University of California, Irvine last year while still full-time racing for the past five years. There were many times that I would have to study in the car on the way to the racetrack, or do my homework in between sessions, or finish a race weekend and have to fly out that evening to make a final exam the next morning. I had to find the time to train, travel to race events, go to lectures, finish homework, study for exams etc... It was really tough, but it all came down to good time management, negotiating with my professors and relying on some of my college friends to help me take lecture notes. I definitely still had that college experience with multiple all-nighters, but it’s made me stronger as a person and I’m very proud to have finished the university.

My economics degree has helped my ventures with the race team. Initially, when I was in college, I just focused on my role as a driver instead of a team owner. However, after I graduated, I took a more central role and managed publicity, logistics, sponsorships and my own personal brand. I definitely could not have been as successful without my dad guiding me along the way, and am forever thankful for what he has helped me achieve.

Ultimately, my goal is to race in LeMans and to be the first Asian woman to win there. I hope to bring my amazing team with me, as one of my favourite things about racing is sharing the podium with my racing family!

What has been your biggest career high so far, and what do you have planned for the future in your bucket list?

As a driver, my biggest career high is split between winning the 2021 24H Dubai and winning the 6H Abu Dhabi. I was the first Asian woman to win the 24H Dubai and first woman to win the 6H Abu Dhabi! These were both my first ever pro racing wins, so they mean a lot to me. It was a culmination of all the hard work I had done in the previous years and I’m so proud to have shared it with my own racing team. I can’t thank my teammates, Nick Wittmer, Jon Miller and Chandler Hull, enough for putting their faith in me and helping me develop as a driver.

They played the Canadian national anthem on the podium at Abu Dhabi and raised the Canadian flag behind me as I took my trophy. It almost made me cry, I was so happy!

As a team, I think our career high was winning both the 2019 Pirelli GT4 America SprintX West Driver’s Championship and Team Championship! We were finally given credibility and recognition that we had fought for against established teams that had multiple championships on their records.

Do you have any words of advice for women who think of getting into racing but are too afraid to?

The biggest obstacle in racing is finding the funding. Racing is an extremely expensive sport and it requires a lot of sponsors, because if you don’t have the proper funding, it can be a major challenge. You really have to learn how to market yourself, build your brand, fight for recognition and seize any and every opportunity that you can.

Whenever you try anything new, you’re going to fail a lot of times and you’re going to make mistakes. You have to learn to be okay with that. Failure means that you’re trying. You fail and you eliminate a method that won’t work. From failure, we learn, grow and succeed.

As Joanne Molinaro has said, “It’s so much easier to listen to the voices that are telling you ‘you’re not good enough. You’re not smart enough. You’re not strong enough.’ You might even feel tempted to agree with them, just to shut them up. But just when you feel like giving in to those voices, I want you to remember: you are fierce. You are strong. You are a fighter.” Because success is out there for those who fight for it. (TT)

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Falken has been named the recipient of the prestigious BRV Service Award, as announced by the German Tyre Retail and Vulcanisation Trade Association during its General Meeting on 8 June 2026. As a brand operating under Dunlop Tyre Europe GmbH, Falken emerged victorious from a competitive online survey where over 250 tyre trade members cast their votes to determine the industry’s most outstanding partner.

This accolade specifically recognises Falken’s superior service standards and its commitment to fostering a reliable and cooperative relationship with its retail partners. The overwhelming vote of confidence from the trade serves as a significant form of recognition for the company, while simultaneously acting as a powerful incentive for the entire Falken workforce to maintain their high-performance levels.

Thomas Langer, Sales Director Germany, Dunlop Tyre Europe GmbH, said, “The news of a top ranking in the BRV Service Award was already a special honour, as it comes directly from the specialist tyre trade. We are now even more delighted to celebrate the overall victory. We would like to express our sincere thanks for this recognition. First place confirms our commitment to offering Falken partners not only reliable and safe products, but above all, dependable service, personalised support and a truly partnership-based collaboration. The fact that the trade has voted the entire team’s efforts into first place motivates us to continue pursuing our goals with determination.”

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The Alliance for the Future of Tires (AZuR) has concluded its participation at The Tire Cologne 2026 with a positive assessment, operating through a network of 19 affiliated organisations across Europe. Their shared exhibition space in Hall 7.1 emerged as a central meeting point during the industry's premier global gathering. Key episodes included a governmental visit, a strategic industry forum and recognition for emerging enterprises.

An immersive installation greeted visitors to the AZuR area, with the entire floor surface consisting of resilient tiles produced from recycled tyre rubber supplied by network affiliate MRH Mülsen. This practical display offered a compelling illustration of how discarded materials can be transformed into functional products. The collaborative exhibition model proved highly favourable among attendees and participating companies alike.

The initiative broadened its collaborative base during the fair, securing commitments from new entities in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to advance shared sustainability objectives. North Rhine-Westphalia's environment minister, Oliver Krischer, toured the exhibition as part of a broader initiative to spotlight regional excellence in circular practices, observing demonstrations spanning digital monitoring, alternative materials and recovery processes.

A dedicated assembly on tyre retreading drew roughly 40 specialists from manufacturing, materials supply and trade associations. Conversations revolved around the technology's track record and adaptation to market conditions, referencing recent environmental performance data. Survey feedback indicated robust confidence in retreading's financial and environmental merits, though participants identified competition from lower-cost imports as a primary obstacle.

The programme concluded with the LOOP THE TYRE competition awards. The top honour went to Machine-Vision.io from Reutlingen for its optical evaluation system streamlining used tyre assessment. Sustainable Rubber Solutions from the Netherlands received second prize for its chemical innovation enabling rubber reintegration into new compounds, while Austria's ReTyre project claimed third for developing a scalable devulcanisation method for tyre-to-tyre recycling.

Anna-Maria Guth, AZuR Network Coordinator, said, “TTC impressively demonstrated the high level of interest in a functioning tyre circular economy. We were particularly pleased with the exceptionally positive atmosphere at our joint stand. Our partners see themselves as equal contributors to a common goal and as partners in a strong alliance for the future.”

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Prinx Chengshan marked a significant milestone at The Tire Cologne 2026 in Germany on 9 June, where it officially introduced its Prinx-brand commercial vehicle tyres to the European market. The launch event, held during the prestigious trade fair, served as a commemorative highlight for the 50th anniversary of the Chengshan Group. While the company showcased its full portfolio of brands, including Chengshan, Austone and Fortune, the European debut of the Prinx commercial tyre line commanded the primary focus of industry attendees.

Senior company representatives provided comprehensive insights into the strategic initiative during the event. Officials from the Europe and Americas Sales Center, the R&D Center and the European Technical Center outlined the company's developmental trajectory, manufacturing scale and proprietary technological advancements. The presentations emphasised the integration of intelligent manufacturing systems and global research capabilities, with particular attention given to how the Prinx brand is developing future-oriented commercial solutions tailored specifically for European fleet operators.

The Prinx brand, positioned as a premium offering, leverages three intelligent manufacturing facilities located in China, Thailand and Malaysia, combined with the localised expertise of its European Technical Center. The company has concentrated its research efforts on six core technologies, including low rolling resistance and high wear resistance features, complemented by an intelligent tyre monitoring system. A strategic partnership with Marangoni, a prominent European retreading material manufacturer, further strengthens the brand's comprehensive service capabilities.

For its market entry, Prinx launched three initial product series covering nine tread patterns suitable for long-haul and regional mixed road conditions. Future product expansion plans include tyres for mixed-use applications, city buses, long-distance coaches and winter conditions. Since announcing its European passenger car tyre initiative in Milan in 2023, the brand has rapidly enhanced its product matrix and reinforced its market presence through branding initiatives and sponsorship of major racing championships.

With five decades of industry experience, Prinx Chengshan is accelerating its global strategy through a product-plus-service philosophy. The company aims to deliver customized solutions addressing the complete tyre lifecycle by combining Chinese manufacturing heritage with international research and development networks. This approach positions the company to precisely meet localised European market demands while inviting global partners to contribute to a sustainable transportation future.

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Grady County, Georgia, has successfully addressed the persistent issue of flood-damaged roads by implementing an innovative and sustainable construction method on Lower Cairo Road. The project tackled chronic washouts that had long plagued the area, where conventional repairs consistently failed during heavy rainstorms. The chosen solution involved a significant elevation of the roadway and the reinforcement of its foundation, moving beyond temporary surface fixes to target the root causes of the flooding.

The county utilised a technique known as Mechanical Concrete, which employs recycled tyre cylinders to create a durable and flexible road base. In this process, scrap tyres are processed into cylindrical units and arranged in a grid pattern. These interconnected cylinders are then filled with aggregate, in this case, reclaimed asphalt pavement, to form a robust foundation. This system effectively distributes the weight of traffic and provides superior resistance to erosion, directly countering the forces that previously caused washouts.

The specific work on Lower Cairo Road covered a length of 880 linear feet and a width of 18 feet, raising the road's elevation by 12 inches. The project successfully incorporated 3,300 recycled scrap tyre cylinders, demonstrating a significant commitment to sustainability by diverting waste from landfills. The enhanced drainage and structural stability provided by this method are expected to drastically reduce the frequency and cost of future maintenance, offering a long-term solution to the community's flooding woes.

The success of Grady County’s initiative highlights a scalable and cost-effective approach for other municipalities facing similar infrastructure challenges. This method proves particularly beneficial for rural networks and low-lying regions with limited budgets. By demonstrating how to build resilient roads using recycled materials, Grady County has provided a practical model for enhancing infrastructure durability while promoting environmental stewardship.

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