Hannah Grisham made a stunning Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, securing a ProAm class victory in her first race and a podium finish in her second start.
GT4 America race winner Hannah Grisham had a remarkable debut in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, securing an impressive race victory in her first-ever start and a second podium in Race 2 in the ProAm class.
Grisham, a Shift Up Now athlete and the 2022 Heart of Racing female driver shootout winner, earned her seat in Pirelli GT4 America with top Aston Martin team The Heart Of Racing. She teamed up with Rianna O'Meara Hunt for her debut campaign in 2023, achieving a historic double victory at Indianapolis in the season finale—the first-ever for an all-female crew with the Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Grisham returned to the highly competitive GT4 America in 2024 alongside Hannah Greenemeier, immediately taking class victories at Sonoma and returning to the podium at Sebring. After being recategorized to the Silver class, the duo earned another podium at Road America and secured a breakthrough overall podium at Barber Motorsports Park.
Now stepping up to the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo, Grisham's debut took place at a familiar circuit: Indianapolis. “I’m very excited to be racing at Indy this weekend with IMSA in Super Trofeo,” said Grisham. “Indy is a track I’ve had some good fortune at in the past and I’m hoping to carry that into this coming weekend."
"I’ve only made one prior IMSA start in the Mazda MX-5 Cup, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to be back competing as part of the IMSA weekend." Grisham had in fact previously competed on the IMSA platform in the Mazda MX-5 Cup, a series that has helped launch careers in North American sports car racing.
Teaming up with Keawn Tandon in the ProAm class for Forty7 Motorsports, the duo impressed with strong pace from the outset. In the first practice session, Tandon was second fastest in class, just two-tenths off the pacesetters. Grisham matched that speed in FP2, clocking the fourth fastest time in her first outing.
Tandon then stormed to pole in class during Q1 with a 1:24.899 lap, while Grisham took fourth in class during her first Super Trofeo qualifying session in Q2.
The first race of the weekend kicked off under safety car conditions, with a large field of 35 cars. With 47 minutes remaining, the green flag waved, and the tightly packed grid funneled into the tricky Turn 1 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. All the cars survived the opening corner, and Keawn Tandon quickly climbed to fifth overall, maintaining the lead in the ProAm class.
As the race settled in, Tandon found himself in a fierce battle, holding onto seventh overall while staying half a second clear of his closest ProAm rivals, Stacy and Berkeley.
Tandon set the early pace for the ProAm class, clocking the fastest lap as he continued to lead. However, pressure soon mounted as John Dubets began closing the gap.
Meanwhile, the #66 car of Muss spun out of contention, allowing Tandon some breathing room. Still, Dubets remained a persistent challenger, gradually eating into Tandon’s lead. By lap 10, Tandon was forced to defend hard as Dubets was right on his tail, applying intense pressure going into Turn 1. Despite the aggressive attack, Tandon held his ground.
As Tandon fended off Dubets, the battle allowed Stacy and Berkeley to close in, forming a four-way fight for the ProAm lead. The pit window opened with 30 minutes left on the clock, and several teams dived into the pits to perform their driver changes. Tandon cycled into the lead and extended his stint while locked in a side-by-side duel with Dubets.
After a series of hard-fought laps, Tandon finally pitted from third overall and the ProAm class lead on lap 16, handing over the car to Hannah Grisham for her highly anticipated first stint in Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
Grisham rejoined the race in fourth place within the ProAm class, just as the leading ProAm trio began their pit stops. Her lap times were immediately competitive, and she quickly began catching the cars ahead.
On lap 19 the front runners, anticipating a full-course yellow due to an on-track collision between Lucas and Edwards, pitted. The race, however, stayed green, allowing Grisham to move up to third place in the ProAm standings.
Grisham's pace was consistent and impressive, enabling her to close in on Stewart and Persing. The duo ahead made contact, sending Stewart into a spin; Grisham smartly avoided the incident, snatching second place in the process.
Persing, who was now under investigation for his role in the collision, was later given a drive-through penalty, leaving Grisham unchallenged at the front. On lap 23, she took over the lead of the ProAm class, building a 2.5-second gap over Capizzi, with Adams chasing in third.
Hannah continued to demonstrate her pace and maturity while in the lead; she extended her gap to over five seconds, smartly managing traffic as she navigated through the slower cars in the field. Adams managed to pass Capizzi for second on lap 26, but Grisham maintained her rhythm and continued to match Adams’ lap times.
Her performance in the closing stages was so strong that she began catching some of the Pro class entries, showing overall top-five worthy pace. With just a few laps remaining, Grisham kept a cool head and crossed the line to take her first-ever victory in Lamborghini Super Trofeo, a stunning 6.3 seconds ahead of the Adams/Berkeley duo, in one of the best races of her career to date.
Race 2 followed on the next day, with Grisham starting from P4 in the ProAm class and ninth overall. The start was once again clean, and Grisham quickly settled into a comfortable rhythm, positioning herself well within the leading ProAm pack.
She soon cleared the AM-class car driven by McGee and focused on the ProAm battle ahead. By lap 5, she found herself in a group of ProAm cars and was locked in a battle with Hoffman, who made a late move to overtake her for third in class. At the same time, she had to defend against Persing, who was closing in from behind.
Grisham eventually lost a position to Persing but remained composed as the pit window approached. On lap 12, she entered the pits from fifth in class and handed over the car to Keawn Tandon after a solid and consistent stint. Her teammate rejoined the race in fifth place, right behind the #8 WTR car of Stacy.
Hoffman, who had been leading the ProAm class, was penalized for a pit stop infringement, allowing Tandon to move up to fourth place. Tandon kept pushing and passed Stacy for third on lap 27, setting up a battle for second with Berkeley, who was only a second ahead.
The fight for the lead was also heating up as Berkeley passed Muss, with Tandon looking to capitalize on any mistakes from the front runners. However, traffic played a role, as lapped cars prevented Tandon from making further gains in the closing laps.
Despite the challenges, Tandon crossed the line in third place, securing a back-to-back podium for the Forty7 Motorsports team and marking a successful debut weekend for the Grisham/Tandon duo.
Hannah Grisham’s impressive Lamborghini Super Trofeo debut, featuring a win and a podium at Indianapolis, solidifies her reputation as one of the most promising sports car racers. She will now return to Indianapolis on October 3-6 to compete in the final round of the Pirelli GT4 America championship, driving the #26 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with Hannah Greenemeier.