GT4 America: Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier secure first podium of the season at COTA
- RACERS
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Heart of Racing's Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier made their first trip to the rostrum in Pirelli GT4 America this year with a third place in the Silver class at the three-hour Lone Star Enduro that grants double points.
Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier claimed their first podium of the 2025 Pirelli GT4 America season with a third-place finish in the Silver class at the three-hour Lone Star Enduro. In another superbly consistent drive, the duo of the #26 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 earned valuable double points at the endurance event.
Returning for their second season as teammates in the Heart of Racing’s all-female lineup, Grisham and Greenemeier had already made a strong start to their campaign at Sonoma Raceway, where they secured a fourth-place class finish in Race 1.
The pair had consistently contended for podiums and class wins in Pro-Am in 2024 before being reclassified to the top Silver category midway through the season, soon climbing the podium and breaking into the overall top ten. Their sophomore campaign continued on solid form, scoring points in both races at Sonoma and targeting another podium at the Circuit of the Americas' single-race, three-hour endurance contest.
The team showed strong pace from the early sessions, with Greenemeier setting the fifth fastest time in Silver class during practice with a 2:15.142, and backing it up with another top-five time in FP2. In qualifying, Grisham clocked a 2:14.410 to secure sixth in class and 16th overall— a strong effort ahead of the only endurance race on the GT4 America calendar.
On Saturday, it would be Hannah Greenemeier to take the start from P16 and sixth in Silver. After being boxed in at Turn 1, she slipped to eighth in class but kept her cool and avoided unnecessary risks. A full course yellow was called early on lap 2, and at the restart on lap 5, Greenemeier executed a brilliant move to climb to fifth in Silver and 10th overall.
Another caution period followed after a heavy crash for the #888 McLaren at the Esses. Under caution, the team opted to pit early: Greenemeier handed the car over to Grisham, though a stopped car in the pit lane cost them a position exiting their box.
With 2 hours and 18 minutes to go, Grisham was back on track, quickly moving up to fourth in class and hunting down the overall top 10. On lap 17, she advanced into third in Silver after Elghanayan pitted.
Battling Tyler Gonzalez, Grisham posted some of her best lap times of the race, eventually settling into a comfortable P4 with a safe margin to the cars behind. She pitted on lap 31, and Greenemeier started her second stint.
Rejoining fifth in class and 12th overall, Greenemeier continued to gain ground as the pit cycle completed, climbing to ninth overall and fifth in Silver. When Elghanayan made his off-sequence pit stop, Greenemeier retook fourth in class and began hunting down the top three in Silver, even passing the Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin and ACI Motorsports Porsche to crack the overall top five.
A close battle with Neudorf’s JMF Aston Martin ensued, with Neudorf eventually getting by with 50 minutes remaining.
As the race entered its final hour, teams made their final pit stops: Greenemeier handed back over to Grisham, who rejoined in fifth in class, comfortably ahead of Koch’s Random Vandals BMW. Grisham battled hard, briefly fighting Riley Dickinson for sixth overall, while avoiding track limits penalties that many drivers received. A drive-through penalty for pit infringement for Michael Cooper further helped Grisham extend her gap.
A final full course yellow came out with 26 minutes to go, neutralizing the field after Cicero's BMW was stranded on track. Grisham was still fifth in class and prepared for a chaotic restart under the setting Texas sun.
Despite getting pushed down at the restart and dropping to ninth overall and sixth in class, Grisham impressively battled back, setting personal best laps to reclaim fourth in Silver soon after.
A late drive-through penalty for the second-placed Silver car of Anderson (#52 BMW) promoted the Heart of Racing Aston Martin into third in class. Grisham pushed hard in the final laps, almost catching Ortmann for second, but ultimately crossed the line third in Silver and eighth overall—in an outstanding result after gaining eight places from the start.
“Overall we had a really good weekend", Grisham commented. "We started by qualifying 15th overall, so we had to start mid pack which wasn’t most ideal. We proved that if you keep the car clean and execute everything on track and off track well, you can make sure that you’re there in the last 30 minutes and it worked out, we walked away with a podium!"
"It’s our first podium of the year, and we couldn’t be more happier about that", she continued. "Hannah [Greenemeier] drove amazing and smart, the team had great pit stop execution except for a few things that were out of their control. I’m just really happy to get this first podium of the season here at COTA.”
"It was a really big step forward from Sonoma", Greenemeier echoed. "I’m super proud of the team, not only just for what they did this past weekend, but also all the testing and preparation that we put into it the last couple of weeks. I think both Hannah and I did a great job of maintaining track position and improving throughout the race."
"It’s great to get a podium so early on in the year, but now we’ll just keep digging for more.”
Aiming to build momentum with their first podium of the season, Grisham and Greenemeier are now firmly in contention for top spots in the Silver class standings and will aim to continue their strong form at Sebring International Raceway on May 16–18.