Hannah Grisham impressed in her GT3 racing debut at the 24 Hours of Dubai, delivering consistent, competitive stints and helping the Heart of Racing team to a strong fourth-place finish in the GT3 AM class, narrowly missing a podium.
Hannah Grisham made her GT3 racing debut at the Michelin 24 Hours of Dubai and immediately impressed, showing great pace and consistency throughout the race, where she teamed up with Ian James, Gray Newell, and Zachary Robichon at the wheel of the #27 Heart of Racing Mercedes.
After battling for the GT3 AM class podium for the whole 24 hours, the team was unlucky in the final stages of the race with code-60 timing, but still secured fourth place in class, just 35 seconds short of a podium.
For Grisham, it was a testament to her progress in sports cars, having enjoyed a widely positive 2024 season that included class wins in GT4 America, her main racing program, and an outstanding victory in her first-ever race in Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
Grisham joined the Heart of Racing team in 2023, having secured a drive by winning the female driver selection that brought an all-female duo to GT4 America. She won her first race at the season finale in Indianapolis and carried momentum into 2024, when she teamed up with Hannah Greenemeier. The duo was recategorized from AM to Pro-Am and then to Silver in the second half of the season; however, they continued to showcase great speed and collected class and overall podiums.
With Heart of Racing teaming up with SPS for the Creventic 24 Hours of Dubai, the race that traditionally kicks off the sports car calendar, Grisham had the chance to make her GT3 debut, aligning with the team’s mission to reward its most promising young drivers with crucial experience.
From the Aston Martin GT4 Vantage to the Mercedes AMG GT3, Hannah Grisham had to learn the new car directly during the race weekend.
"That was my first time in the Mercedes", Grisham told us. "Thankfully the 24 Hours Series had a fair amount of testing days leading up, it's a fair amount of time. So I did get a good amount of track time before jumping straight into the race."
"[It's] definitely different than the style of driving from the Aston GT4. You know, obviously with the super long front nose, there's a bit of understeer, but the downforce level of the car is really strong. So I would say it was fairly easy. It didn't seem like that huge of a step from GT4" - she explained.
Having never raced at the Dubai Autodrome either, it was a learning curve for the American racer, who nevertheless has been a quick learner and made great use of track time during pre-event testing and official practice sessions - paired with work done on the simulator before travelling to the UAE.
"I did a bit of sim before", she said. "By just watching videos, Dubai doesn't look crazy technical, but a lot of the turns have a bit of camber, just enough elevation change. Even though it's not much, like a decreasing radius into braking, it makes it kind of tricky actually. It's a pretty fun track, I would say, honestly."
The Heart of Racing machine led the first collective test on Friday in the AM class and was ninth fastest in official practice. Grisham used practice also to learn traffic management, as the speed differential between classes was greater than what she had previously experienced.
"We were just trying to dial and set up, like day versus night. There's a bit of difference. So trying to balance that, and then in practice I tried to get used to pit stops", with Creventic having a different pit area for refuelling, similar to what Grisham had experienced at the Fun Cup race in Le Mans earlier this year.
"It was also my first time being around the TCX or TCE cars and also the GT4, so kind of coming to grips with that. But it went pretty well", she continued.
"There was obviously the 992 class, which was kind of difficult in a way, they could be pretty fast down the straight, but then didn't really necessarily have the downforce in the corner.
So you're dealing with cars that were just fast enough to make it quite difficult to get around."
Nevertheless the team was looking strong coming into qualifying. Ian James took driving duties in Q1, setting a 1:59.754. Canadian driver Zachary Robichon took over for Q2, clocking a 1:59.284, before Gray Newell completed the third and final leg of qualifying, recording a 2:01.310. Combined times put the #27 Mercedes fifth in the GT3 AM class and 15th overall—a promising result.
On Saturday morning, the 2025 racing season got underway with a 64-car grid, one of the most impressive fields in recent years, for the 20th running of the 24 Hours of Dubai race.
Ian James started the race in the Heart of Racing Mercedes; it was a clean start throughout the pack, and James retained fifth in GT3 AM, losing a few overall positions but settling into 19th overall.
While he dropped to eighth in class 30 minutes into the race, he then cleared Van Rompuy and Rumpfkeil to climb back into sixth, finding good pace. At the one-hour mark, the first round of pit stops began. Gray Newell took over the wheel of the Heart of Racing Mercedes, rejoining in sixth
The first code-60 caution of the race occurred when the #990 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup crashed at speed into the pit wall. Many teams used this caution to top off fuel. As the race returned to green at the end of the second hour, another big crash at Turn 2 caused an immediate re-neutralization.
After two hours, Newell pitted under caution for refueling while in seventh in class.
With 21 hours and 40 minutes remaining, Hannah Grisham officially made her GT3 racing debut for her first stint, taking over the #27 Mercedes.
Grisham ran consistent 2:01 laps on fresh tyres, showcasing impressive speed. She moved up into seventh, chasing the two Herberth Motorsport Porsches for class position. On lap 64, she overtook Kevin Tse for sixth.
Hannah took advantage of another caution to refuel at the end of her first hour of racing. She demonstrated excellent traffic management and moved into fourth during subsequent pit stops. The Heart of Racing Mercedes stayed out longer, allowing Grisham to eventually pit from fifth overall on lap 98, running 2:02 laps on very used tyres—completing a strong first stint. As the race entered the fourth hour, Gray Newell took over the #27 just before another short code-60 caution.
Newell climbed to third during his stint before settling into sixth. Approaching the sixth hour, another code-60 caution was called when Dominik Olbert’s Razoon Porsche hit the barriers; Newell pitted under caution, handing the car to Zachary Robichon for his first stint with 18 hours remaining. The race however was soon neutralized again - and the team opted to bring James back in the car.
Back under green, James regained fourth. Another code-60 was triggered when the WS Racing BMW M4 GT4 caught fire. At that point Robichon had jumped back in the car and maintained sixth during the caution.
Robichon then put in competitive laps, chasing the #40 Comtoyou Aston Martin, with the closest class rival 15 seconds ahead. Robichon climbed to third in class before pitting on lap 225, when Hannah Grisham returned for her second stint, this time in night conditions.
Grisham had an excellent outlap and maintained 2:01 lap times on fresh tyres, consistently matching the frontrunners. After a strong stint, she handed the car back to Newell in fifth place.
"I've driven once in the night three or four years ago, so this was my second time at night", Grisham recalled. "But honestly, Dubai is pretty well lit, I would say, so it wasn't too bad."
"Obviously there was a night practice, and I did a few laps. But then once it's night time it's a little bit different visually, also once you're coming up on these cars that are way slower."
"It was about bringing the car home, trying to have a decent consistent pace but also just being cautious, realizing not to make any crazy passes because it's a 24 hour race."
"Just being smart about what I did and realizing that there is time. Cautiously-aggressive, might be the right way to describe it."
At the halfway point of the 24 Hours of Dubai, Hannah Grisham overtook James Winslow's Haas RT Audi to reclaim sixth place. When the Hofor Mercedes pitted, she moved up to fifth.
The tenth code-60 caution occurred when the #795 Ginetta came to a halt. Grisham pitted to refuel, and Ian James took over in fourth place.
As the race resumed, James ran consistently, closing the gap to the #40 Aston Martin. On lap 325, James overtook the Aston after it went off track, moving up to third in class.
With ten hours remaining, Zach Robichon returned to the #27 Heart of Racing Mercedes.
The Canadian became the fastest Mercedes on track, running competitive laps and moving back into fourth as he alternated behind the wheel with James.
Hannah Grisham returned to the car with seven hours remaining and settled into the top five. She overtook the Herberth Motorsport Porsche of Moritz for fourth, lapping consistently at 2:02 pace.
As daylight began to break over the Dubai skyline, Grisham finished her stint and handed the car to Ian James, who rejoined in fourth place, just 20 seconds behind the #80 Herberth Motorsport Porsche. James chipped away at the gap, closing it to 15 seconds.
Throughout the race’s second half, the #27 Mercedes cycled through positions in the top five, battling in between code-60 caution timings and fuel strategies. Grisham’s final stint saw her passing Jake Pedersen for seventh overall and maintained a 48-second gap over the third-placed Haas RT Audi of James Winslow.
In the final hours, the Heart of Racing team was within reach of third place but faced challenges with untimely cautions; Ian James ultimately crossed the line in fourth place, the second-fastest Mercedes in the field.
Despite a valiant effort and competitive lap times, the Heart Of Racing by SPS team was just 35 seconds shy of the podium.
Hannah Grisham’s GT3 debut was however highly successful. She demonstrated confidence, long-run consistency, and competitive lap times that matched more experienced drivers. Her ability to manage tyres and adapt quickly to new machinery highlighted her potential.
"I think I did fairly good for my first time in a GT3", she told us after the race. "Of course I made a few little mistakes. But I think that's what it's all about, in learning from those. I think I've not necessarily been the quickest driver on one-lap pace, but I think I've always been a more of a consistent driver, and better at long-stint pace, as well as being able to manage an older tyre - which I think definitely helps in this kind of racing", she summarized. "Obviously qualifying is important, but I think at the end of the day I'd rather be stronger on a longer stint."
The Michelin tyres used in the Creventic event for the first time turned out in fact to be a good fit to Grisham's driving style.
"Last year and in previous years they've ran the Hankook [tyres] and now obviously was the Michelin. I never ran the Hankooks but from what I got it was a little bit different with car balance. So I think that changed some things."
The Heart Of Racing quartet of drivers worked well together and all ran on very similar pace throughout the race, with Grisham using the opportunity to learn as much as possible in her first GT3 outing.
"Obviously I've spent a fair amount of time with Gray [Newell] since he races in SRO", she said. "And Ian, of course, he's team principal. But I've never actually gotten to drive with either of them, so that was really cool. And then of course we had Zach - that was my first time meeting him. He's a super talented driver and you can tell he knows a lot and gives really good debrief."
"It's always cool to work with someone and see how they go about things and what their thinking process is - and then taking from that and trying to learn something from it."
Looking ahead, Hannah Grisham will return for her third year in GT4 America with Heart of Racing, teaming up again with Hannah Greenemeier. After a strong 2024 season, the duo is aiming to compete at the sharp end of the SRO-promoted series in 2025.
"I'm really excited. Obviously it's nice out that now Hannah [Greenemeier] and I have had a year to get to know each other. Hannah's had a year now to see all the tracks get used to the car, so I think it'll be really good, we're gonna mesh super well. I'm really looking forward to it and excited to see what we can do together and continue to grow."
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