Canadian race car star Samantha Tan skirting gender stereotypes in motorsports

As soon as she puts her helmet on, professional race car driver Samantha Tan says the feeling of nervousness fades away.

She enters a state of flow, which she describes as an out-of-body experience.

Tan tells Yahoo Canada accelerating out of the pit lane is a thrill.

"When you're in that state, you're just taking it corner by corner. You're not thinking of other things. You're not distracted or overwhelmed," she said.

The 25-year-old Chinese-Canadian race car driver and team owner of Samantha Tan Racing said her passion is inspiring women and minorities to get into motorsports. And she's on track for that goal.

In 2022, Tan became the first woman to ever pole and win in the Ferrari Challenge, a top-level motorsport sprint race. In that same year, she also became the European Ladies GT Champion in the 24H Series and the first Asian woman to win the Indy 8-Hour race in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

"I never had a role model that I could relate to when I started, and I've always wanted to be that for other people," Tan admitted.

Tan didn't come from a racing family and was only introduced to the sport as a teen.

"It wasn't until I was old enough to reach the pedals, when I was like 14-years-old, that my dad decided to enroll me in a performance driving school," said Tan. "He really wanted me to learn proper car control, especially driving in the winter in Canada and dealing with the snow."

It was at the end of the program that Tan got to sit in a race car and had a professional driver take her around for a lap.

"There was a lot of intense braking and acceleration. ... I remember being strapped in with a five-point harness for the first time in my life, and my legs were still flailing around, but I had the time of my life," she recalled.

"As soon as I got out of the car, I was like I would really love to also be as bada— of a driver as this guy. So that's kind of what started my journey."

Sponsorship and stereotypes: Barriers for women

Tan said many women in racing didn't know they could pursue motorsports as a career path until they were much older.

"We kind of have this disadvantage against a lot of our competitors because we are starting so late," she explained.

By the time they do enter, Tan said women face the biggest barrier in racing: funding and sponsorship.

"Sponsors are not funding girls early enough in their racing careers," said Tan.

"Motorsport is notoriously one of the most expensive sports to compete in. ... You have to rent the car, there's transport costs, there's parts to buy to maintain the car and hiring a crew."

Female participation currently represents on average of about 10 per cent across all categories of competition, according to a 2023 report by More than Equal, an organization that promotes female racing drivers.

"Broken down further in karting, where about 13 per cent of participation is from female drivers, and formula and GT racing where it drops to about seven per cent. Karting is a vital format and entry point making up 40 per cent of all overall female participation," the report adds.

Even as that small percentage of female racers continue to compete, the organization said they are not progressing at the same rate into the top talent rankings of the sport. Tan agreed.

"They're not able to get from karting and propel themselves into a higher level and it's because these sponsors are not investing enough," said Tan. "We've got to think about how to change that."

The 2023 report said not only is funding a barrier, but stereotyping or negative perceptions about women's ability to drive fast — or compete physically — still exist.

"There's a lot of misogynistic comments and evaluating me more on my appearance rather than my skills. ... People always try to make excuses for why I'm successful," said Tan.

Invalidating successes

When she first started racing, Tan said when she would show up to a driver autograph session in her suit people would assume she's just a model.

"People's perception of what a woman should be at a racetrack was as a grid girl, or as a racer's girlfriend. It was never as the driver," said Tan.

"It's definitely changed a lot in the past few years. I don't get that comment anymore, but I think more people know me now."

Her successes have also been invalidated in the past, she claimed.

In one instance, Tan recalled she put down her best lap in Barcelona, Spain, and later overheard one of her competitors imply it was actually her male co-driver who did the lap — not her.

"I was so upset, but we went on to win that race," she noted. "We beat him by 30 minutes. And I remember on the podium, this guy couldn't even look me in the eye."

On top of the misogyny, Tan also had to deal with the stereotype of Asians being bad drivers, saying it weighed on her mentally as a young girl.

"Sometimes when I did make mistakes at the track, I was like, 'Is it me? Or is it because of my race? Or is it because of my genetics? Am I genetically limited because of that?,'" she questioned.

"It was definitely very damaging when I first started, but then along the way I realized that's totally wrong. And I sought to basically eliminate that stereotype."

She now wants her racing career to be the counterexample.

"If somebody ever said that [stereotype], then people can say, 'Look at Samantha Tan and what she has accomplished,' so that's also been a thing of mine," Tan said.

'I deserve to see myself succeed'

This year, Tan has been racing around the world within the United States and across Europe and is a newly official ambassador for BMW.

Tan said she aspires to be the first Asian woman to win the prestigious 24H LeMans — the most challenging endurance race in the world. It will take place in June 2024.

She said it's her ultimate goal that keeps her going, but it's not the only thing.

"Remembering why I started, thinking of the younger version of myself and everything I wanted to achieve and knowing that I deserve to see my efforts pay off, I deserve to see myself succeed," Tan said.

"And on top of that, continuing to do this to help inspire and empower others."

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