Hannah Grisham claims victory at the Michelin 12 Hours of Mugello

LIAM REDFORD

2 days ago10 min read

“Overall, it couldn’t have been a better weekend!" - In just her second ever race in GT3 machinery, Hannah Grisham secured the GT3 Am class victory at the Michelin 12 Hours of Mugello, as the Heart of Racing by SPS trio drove superbly in changeable conditions while also finishing as overall runners-up.

Madeline Stewart, JDX Racing, Porsche Carrera Cup North America — Photo credits: Creventic

In just her second ever race in GT3 machinery, Hannah Grisham secured the GT3 Am class victory at the Michelin 12 Hours of Mugello. Alongside teammates Ian James and Gray Newell, the Heart of Racing by SPS trio drove superbly in changeable conditions while also finishing as overall runners-up.

In the seven-hour part one of the race, heavy rain led to challenging conditions, however Grisham, James and Newell reached the intermission in the GT3 Am class lead by one lap. Extending their margin as the track dried in part two, the team completed 304 laps and finished 3 laps ahead of their nearest class rival in their Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO.

Grisham was thrilled with the result following the race and commented “Overall, it couldn’t have been a better weekend! I’m really happy to get my first GT3 win here at Mugello with Ian and Gray”.

Grisham made her GT3 debut in the season opening Michelin 24 Hours of Dubai as she stood on the GT3 Am class podium. Joining teammates Ian James, Gray Newell and Zacharie Robichon at Heart of Racing by SPS, the quartet challenged for the class win throughout the season-opening event. Despite limited testing and racing at a new circuit for the first time, Grisham impressed and was therefore keen to return to the 24H Series.

The 24H Series European season began at the Michelin 12 Hours of Mugello with Grisham teaming up with both James and Newell. The event served as Grisham’s first experience of GT racing in Europe and therefore she looked to her teammates for guidance. James and Newell raced at the event last season on their way to a fourth-place finish in the GT3 Am class alongside Canadian racer Roman De Angelis.

Now targeting the top step of the GT3 Am class podium, the Heart of Racing by SPS trio were aiming to begin the event on the front foot in their Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo machine. On-track action began for the team on Thursday as they participated in two extended test sessions. Completing 129 laps across the day, valuable mileage was gained by all three drivers.

On Friday, one further test session prior to the official free practice provided further encouragement. Heart of Racing by SPS topped the times in the GT3 Am class with a lap time of a 1:47.035 which placed them third overall. In the 90-minute free practice which followed shortly after, the team once again showed excellent performance by leading the way in the GT3 Am class.

Qualifying was held on Friday afternoon and consisted of three sessions with each driver given 15-minutes to set a fast lap time. Ian James drove in session one and did a superb job as his quickest time of a 1:47.578 placed Heart of Racing by SPS in third overall, second in the GT3 Am class. In session two, Gray Newell’s fastest lap of a 1:48.030 was the third fastest within class.

Grisham drove in the third session and although the tyres now had a number of laps on them, this did not impact her performance. Grisham was the early overall pacesetter and despite being up against several professional drivers, the American racer set the fifth fastest lap overall with a 1:47.377, while being the fastest GT3 Am class car by almost half a second. As a result, Heart of Racing by SPS secured pole position in the GT3 Am class, while lining up second on the overall starting grid.

Looking back at qualifying, Grisham said “This was my first time here at Mugello, it’s a really fun track and very beautiful. It’s also very technical and a drivers track. The weekend started well in practice and we got the car to where we wanted it. We had a pretty good qualifying and I was feeling comfortable in the car as we qualified second overall and first in class which was a good way to start the weekend”.

On Saturday, the first seven hours of the race were held before an overnight break ahead of the final five hours. Conditions had changed overnight for part one of the 12-hour contest with cooler temperatures and a wet track. Ian James got behind the wheel for the race start with the Heart of Racing by SPS machine lining up from the front row of the overall grid.

James made a clean start and although he lost one overall position to the Proton Huber Competition machine of Manuel Lauck, he initially retained the class lead. Conditions were treacherous and the opening portion of James’ stint was challenging for the experienced British driver. By lap three, James had fallen to sixth overall, third in the GT3 Am class, but was crucially keeping the car on the circuit.

After 20-minutes of the race was completed, the pace of the Heart of Racing by SPS machine had stabilised and James began pulling away from the drivers behind. As hit stint progressed, James was managing his tyres and by lap 17, he was in tenth position overall, fourth in the GT3 Am class.

Following a spin for Cyril Calmon in his Vortex 2.0, the first Code 60 of the race was required and James pitted under this neutralisation period and handed over to Gray Newell for his first stint of the race. Two further Code 60 interruptions then limited Newell’s initial green flag running. After these Code 60 periods, there was significant strategy variation among the teams as some took on more fuel, while others remained on the circuit.

Newell was continuing to lap consistently and on lap 40, the American racer was in 12th position overall, seventh in the GT3 Am class. The Ajith Kumar Racing by BKR machine was then beached in the gravel with Fabien Duffieux behind the wheel and Heart of Racing Team by SPS took this opportunity to pit for their second driver change.

Hannah Grisham therefore took over the Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO for her first wet stint in the car. It was an extremely disrupted start to Grisham’s stint with four separate Code 60 periods in the first 20-minutes as the conditions remained challenging. Although it was difficult for Hannah to get into a rhythm, her lap times began to improve as the ran started to lighten.

By the middle portion of her stint, Grisham’s fast lap times combined with the pit strategy of others, saw her move back into third place within the GT3 Am class. Two spins into the gravel for the MDM Motorsport machine of Jan Jaap van Roon then led to two further Code 60 interruptions, before Grisham enjoyed a longer spell of green flag running.

As a result of her impressive speed, Hannah continued to hold down third in the GT3 Am class while also moving up to seventh overall. Capitalising on a Code 60 period following a spin for Seb Lajoux, the Heart of Racing by SPS team pitted and James took over for his second stint. Not all of the GT3 Am class teams took advantage of this interruption and after two further Code 60 neutralisations, James ran fourth in the GT3 Am class, eighth overall.

The rain continued to ease as the first part of the race reached the halfway point and the trio continued their charge forward. James was consistently faster than his GT3 Am class rivals and on lap 82 he took over the class lead as Gehard Tweraser pitted in his ARC Bratislava prepared machine. Four laps later, James was into fourth overall and he held this position until two further Code 60 periods were required.

The second interruption was the lengthiest of the race after Jorg Dreisow hit the barriers in his Proton Huber Competition Porsche 991 GT3 R 992. James pitted and handed over to Newell as he remained in the GT3 Am class lead. On lap 117, Newell ran his quickest lap of the race as some teams began to think about fitting dry tyres, while others improved their pace on used wets.

Felice Jelmini and Jake Hill were the first drivers in the GT3 class to switch to slicks and although their lap times were strong, Newell remained on the wets. This appeared to be a smart call as the margin for error was small on the dry compound of Michelin tyres as shown by several spins throughout the field. Newell lost the GT3 Am class lead just prior to the end of his stint as Max Partl moved ahead. The HOFOR Racing machine then encountered a small technical issue while refuelling and this allowed Heart of Racing by SPS to reclaim the GT3 Am class lead in the pit cycle.

Grisham took over the car with a little over an hour remaining in the first part of the race with the team fitting a new set of wet tyres. Partl remained in the HOFOR Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO and quickly caught Grisham which forced her to defend her position. Although Partl moved ahead on lap 140 and slick tyres now appeared the best choice, Grisham’s pace was improving significantly on her wet weather rubber.

Grisham reclaimed the GT3 Am class lead six laps later following a solo spin for Partl. Alexander Prinz then got behind the wheel of the HOFOR Racing machine and following contact with the 992 Am class car of Paul Meijer, he was beached in the gravel. This extended Grisham’s GT3 Am class lead further as she maintained superb consistency on her first trip to Mugello.

The slick tyre runners continued to gain time entering the final 20-minutes of the race, however a late rain shower changed the complexion of the race. Grisham was now on the optimum tyre and a spin for Philippe Bonnel in his Vortex 2.0 led to the 19th Code 60 period of an action-packed day. Part one of the race ended under a reduced speed with Grisham leading the GT3 Am class by a lap, while also running third overall.

Reflecting on Saturday’s action, Grisham said “Saturday it rained pretty much all day and that changed things a bit with the strategy as we had to keep the car clean and not push it super hard right out of the gate. I think it really worked well for us and the race came to us at the end. At the end of the first day we were third overall, first in class”.

For part two of the race on Sunday, conditions initially remained wet with Ian James getting behind the wheel on treaded tyres. It was action-packed start and James did a superb job to negotiate a number of faster cars and with Tim Muller soon beached in the gravel, the race entered an early Code 60 period. The Heart of Racing by SPS team pitted for fuel under this interruption with James remaining in the car.

A series of pit stops for Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport led to James extending the GT3 Am class lead by up to three laps. With the rain having stopped and the track beginning to dry, all drivers were improving their lap times during the opening hour. Sergiu Nicolae in the Manamauri Energy by Ebi Motors was the first driver to switch to slicks and quickly set the fastest lap of the race, while James remained on his wet tyres.

James extended his stint for as long as possible and this allowed him to assume the overall race lead during the pit cycle. After an excellent 90-minute stint, James pitted to hand over to Gray Newell with the America driver receiving a set of new slick tyres. As Newell rejoined the circuit, Audrius Pitkys beached his Porsche Baltic machine in the gravel and the race entered the second Code 60 period of the race.

When green flag racing resumed, Newell’s pace was strong and he continued to extend his lead in the GT3 Am class with the margin once again opening up to three laps. Nicola Michelon was then beached in the gravel at the final turn and as a result, the race was neutralised. Newell topped off with fuel under the Code 60 as the team continued to play a smart strategy.

As Newell remained in the car, he maintained a three-lap lead in the GT3 Am class while moving up to fourth in the overall classification. Newell continued to adapt to changing conditions with the sun now raising track temperatures at Mugello. On lap 258, Newell pitted from the class lead, while also cycling through to second overall, before Grisham took charge for the final run to the checkered flag.

During Grisham’s stint, she was required to save fuel and this was a new experience for her in GT3 machinery. Nonetheless, she did a superb job while maintaining a consistent pace and this ensured her margin at the head of the GT3 Am field remained sizeable. With fifteen-minutes remaining, Grisham lost out to Sergiu Nicolae for second position overall with the Manamauri Energy by Ebi Motors running flat out to the checkered flag.

With the final portion of the race running incident-free, there was no late Code 60 period in which to help with Grisham’s fuel saving. Therefore, she brought the Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO into the pits for a splash of fuel with eight-minutes remaining. Now without any fuel concerns, Grisham set the fastest first sector for the team as pushed to the checkered flag.

Claiming the class victory in the GT3 Am class, it was a flawless performance from the Heart of Racing by SPS crew who maximised their performance at Mugello. The trio also ended the 12-hour race in third place overall, later being promoted to second following a four-lap penalty issued to Kessel Racing for failing to fulfil their minimum Am driver time.

Commenting on her fuel mileage run after the race, Grisham said “We had a bit of a buffer going into today from the cars behind us but we kept it clean and I tried to fuel save in the final stint to try not to have another stop, but it wasn’t quite worth the risk when we had such a buffer behind”.

Grisham enjoyed a superb debut race in Europe and the American has impressed in her two outings in GT3 level machinery to date. She will now be looking to carry this momentum forward in the opening round of Pirelli GT4 America which takes place next weekend at Sonoma Raceway.