Jem Hepworth displays promising pace en-route to top-15 result at Hockenheim

Jem Hepworth’s qualifying effort was a particular highlight of the latest GT4 European Championship round at Hockenheim, as she challenged for an overall top-10 starting position – before unfortunately getting caught up in an incident during race 1 and with a lengthy safety car thwarting her progress in race 2.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

RAFA Racing Team driver Jem Hepworth continued her development in the GT4 European Series with a strong showing at Hockenheim. Racing alongside Cameron Lawrence, the pair showed good speed in both qualifying sessions before securing a best result of 14th in the Silver class.

Hepworth and Lawrence were challenging for a top-10 result in race one, before contact from a competitor ended their race early. A promising drive from the pair in race two was interrupted by a lengthy safety car interruption with Hepworth taking the checkered flag in 14th position.

Hepworth and teammate Cameron Lawrence gained significant momentum following the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps. The RAFA Racing Team duo scored points within the Silver class in both races, including an excellent fourth-place result in race two where Hepworth led a number of laps. Positive progress has been made as the pair gain confidence in the McLaren Artura at the highest level of GT4 competition. Hepworth had fond memories of Hockenheim entering the weekend having claimed victory at the circuit alongside Rafael Martinez during their 2023 McLaren Trophy Europe campaign.

Looking to start the event on the front-foot, Hepworth and Lawrence completed 55 laps in Thursday’s pre-event test session with the pair setting the 14th fastest time among Silver graded teams. Improving their fastest time by half a second in Friday morning’s practice session, the RAFA Racing Team duo set the third fastest time overall and were a quarter of a second away from the fastest time. Pre-qualifying was another encouraging session for the pair who set the 14th quickest lap in the Silver class, while holding an overall position inside the top-20.

Qualifying for both races took place on Saturday morning, with both sessions split between the Silver class and the Pro-Am/Am class in order to minimise traffic disruption. Hepworth qualified in the first session and showed excellent speed, continuing her momentum from Spa-Francorchamps. Showing exceptional speed in sector one especially, Hepworth set the 11th fastest time in the silver class, 12th fastest overall. Lawrence also showed good pace in the second session, setting the tenth quickest time in class, placing 11th overall.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

Conditions remained good for the opening race of the weekend with Hepworth starting from a strong position. It was a challenging first lap for the RAFA Racing Team driver who fell to 16th in the Silver class, while dropping eight overall position. Picking up minor damage after turn one contact, the race was shortly neutralised with the safety car deployed. When the race restarted, Jem was working hard to defend her position but after Ivan Ekelchik and Raphael Rennhofer had moved ahead by the end of lap six, she was running 19th in the Silver class.

On lap seven, Hepworth overtook fellow McLaren Artura driver Alex Denning, while Yagiz Gedik moved ahead of the RAFA Racing Team driver. Gedik then had an off-track moment which promoted Hepworth to 18th, before Dexter Patterson moved his Mahiki Racing Lotus Emira GT4 ahead. Therefore, Jem remained 19th within the Silver class and had began setting a series of fast sector times.

Hepworth’s progress was once again halted on lap 11 where a full course yellow period was called for as Nathan Vanspringel’s Ford Mustang had stopped at the side of the track. This second interruption also led to a safety car period, with the restart coming on lap 13. Hepworth lost a couple of positions once the race resumed, before pitting to hand over to Cameron Lawrence on lap 14 for the mandatory pitstop and driver change.

The RAFA Racing Team crew performed a great pitstop and following the pit cycle, Lawrence remained inside the top-20 of the highly competitive Silver class. Lawrence was showing good speed early in the stint and moved ahead of both Enzo Joulie and Max Bird on lap 20 which elevated him to 18th in class.

Bird had stopped with a technical issue and this led to a third safety car period of the race, a fortunate break for Lawrence who was able to close the gap to the top-10 drivers. The race got back underway on lap 18 with the RAFA Racing Team driver immediately gaining positions. Misfortune then struck as contact with another competitor led to the car being forced to retire from the race which was a disappointing end with Lawrence’s pace looking good to challenge for a top-10 result.

Photo credits: SRO/JEP

Following good repair work from the team, Lawrence was ready to start race two from tenth place in the Silver class, 11th overall. The RAFA Racing Team driver made an excellent start and gained one position within class on the opening lap, while moving into ninth within class.

Defending well from fellow McLaren Artura driver Tom Emson, Cameron was able to maintain position until the safety car was deployed on lap three. A multi-car incident at the hairpin led to heavy damage for both Noam Abramczyk and Cindy Gudet and therefore the intervention period was lengthy.

The race got back underway on lap nine with Lawrence receiving light contact as he battled for position at the hairpin. As a result, he slipped to 13th position but then began to show the speed which saw him qualify inside the top-10. Overtaking the Aston Martin of Josh Miller on lap ten, Lawrence was into 12th position as the pit window opened. A number of drivers ahead chose to change drivers as soon as the pit window opened and this allowed the RAFA Racing Team driver to push on and attempted to overcut his rivals.

Lawrence ran as high as fifth overall prior to pitting, handing over to Jem Hepworth on lap 15. Following the pit cycle, Hepworth was running 13th in class and immediately set one of the fastest first sectors of the entire race. Her momentum was then interrupted when a full course yellow period was called for and this led to another safety car period. It was a busy restart for Hepworth who was shuffled down to 15th on lap 19, before setting a personal best time which was just a quarter of a second slower than Lawrence’s fastest effort.

After losing out to the Pro-Am class cars of Finn Zulauf and Stanislav Safronov, Hepworth set another personal best time on lap 22 before closing in on the Silver class runners ahead. Jem’s speed in relatively clear air was impressive, often lapping faster than the drivers inside the top-10.

After a spin for Benjamin Lariche, Hepworth was up to 14th in class, before a final lap issue for the Matmut Evolution run Toyota Supra of Etienne Cheli saw her cross the line in 13th position in the Silver class, 15th overall. Unfortunately a post-race penalty saw the RAFA Racing Team duo drop one position in class, however it was an encouraging race for Hepworth and Lawrence.

Although the duo missed out on scoring any Silver class points at Hockenheim, Hepworth and Lawrence displayed good speed throughout the event. Hepworth’s qualifying effort was a particular highlight as she challenged for an overall top-10 starting position. The duo were unfortunate to get caught up in an incident during race one, with a lengthy safety car thwarting their progress during race two.

The duo will be aiming to return to the points in the next round of the GT4 European Series which takes place at Monza on the weekend of 21st/22nd September.