AMR Asia crew team up with Stoner Car Care Aston Martin at IMSA's visit to Laguna Seca

 

The Stoner Car Care Racing fielded by Automatic Racing team heads to next weekend’s WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 with an exciting new line up, starring two young stalwarts of the Aston Martin Asia program who have sterling pedigrees both on and off the racetrack.

Weiron Tan and Anderson Tanoto will make their Michelin Pilot Challenge series debut in the two-hour endurance race, behind the wheel of the iconic No. 99 Invisible Glass Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Both Tan and Tanoto come to the Stoner Car Care team with extensive racing experience – and significant off-track accomplishments.

Tan, 26, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, began his career in karting then progressed up the junior open wheel ranks, finishing second in the 2013 Formula Renault series and fourth in the 2015 Indy Pro 2000 Championship, driving for Andretti Autosport.

He made the move to sports car racing in 2017, contesting races in the Asian Le Mans Series, the Blancpain GT Series Asia and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). Tan is also a co-founder of Motorsport Services AMR Asia Ltd, the official Aston Martin racing representative and exclusive distributor in Asia.

Tanoto, 32, from Jakarta, Indonesia, began his racing career in 2018 with a victory in the six-race Asian Audi R8 LMS Cup. He has also competed in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, but he is most well-known as the managing director of Royal Golden Eagle, a group of resource-based manufacturing companies in Indonesia. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Tanoto Foundation, a philanthropic organization involved in poverty alleviation through education and empowerment. Tanoto is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School.

The two drivers met in 2018 when Tanoto first started in the Audi Cup Asia. Tan was the series driver coach and the pair were building a relationship when the pandemic hit. Neither driver has raced in the past year and a half but when the idea hit to come to the States, Tan knew who to contact.

“We made a miracle happen in a short amount of time,” said Tan. “We are so lucky to be working with (Automatic Racing team manager) David Russell as we get ready to join the Michelin Pilot Challenge. It’s wonderful to be back in a seat and to race alongside Anderson. I’m still involved in motorsports with the Aston Martin distributorship, but it’s good to get back in the car.”

Both drivers look forward to competing at the fabled WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The track’s 2.238-mile, 11-turn configuration challenges drivers, but no corner is as famous as the legendary Corkscrew, with its 18 percent drop (from entry of The Corkscrew, which is Turn 8, to the exit of Turn 9 the elevation change is 109 feet, or just over 10 stories) – especially behind the wheel of one of the series’ iconic liveries.

“WeatherTech Raceway is one of my all-time favorites,” said Tan. “Having driven there back in 2015, I know the circuit very well. Anderson has done some open track days, but we’ll get him some laps next weekend, and I can help get him up to speed quickly. And it’s fantastic to be racing under the Stoner Car Care colors – the Invisible Glass livery is instantly recognizable and I’m so glad to have them onboard. I know we’ll have a great weekend and I hope we’ll be competing for a podium finish.”

Russell eagerly anticipates introducing the two drivers to the team, the racetrack and the Michelin Pilot Challenge.

“It’s fun running guys who are part of the Aston Martin community,” said Russell. “They’ve been shut down in Asia for a while and they’d been looking for somewhere to run with Aston Martin – and what better place than WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca? We’ve had some really good conversations with both of them, they’re really tuned in, and I know they’ll be good. There won’t be any pressure, it will take them both a while to figure it out, even though Weiron has been there before. It’s a learning curve with the track and the car but they’re diligent guys, they’re smart guys, I have no doubt they’ll both be up to speed quickly.”

The WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 takes the green flag at 7:40 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, September 11.
Source material - Stoner Car Care