RAFA Racing’s Lindsay Brewer and Jem Hepworth clinch double podium, second victory of the season at Misano Lamborghini Super Trofeo NA finale
- RACERS
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RAFA Racing Team’s all-female duo of Lindsay Brewer and Jem Hepworth wrapped up their debut Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America campaign in style with a double-podium and a commanding class victory in Misano, narrowly missing out on the title by just two points.
Lindsay Brewer and Jem Hepworth secured their second win of their rookie season in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America at the final round of the continental series, held at Misano World Circuit in conjunction with the Lamborghini World Finals.
Brewer and Hepworth have been consistent podium finishers throughout the year in the AM class for RAFA Racing Team, adding a win and a second place to their tally. Despite their strong form, the duo came just two points short of the AM class title.
The pair had previously claimed their first class win at Road America, where the all-female duo showed impressive speed and extended their podium streak — the longest of any lineup in the AM class. The following round at Indianapolis saw them overcome setbacks to finish third in Race 2, ahead of the fly-away event in Italy.
The Misano World Circuit, located on Italy’s Adriatic coast, is a highly technical venue and was new territory for Brewer, in what was also her first GT race outside the United States. For Hepworth, however, it was a return to familiar ground, having previously raced there in the European GT4 Championship. Now in faster machinery, the duo faced the challenge of adapting quickly to the new circuit in a competitive 22-car field from the North American series, battling through two final races before the World Finals weekend.
However it wasn’t all smooth sailing for RAFA Racing Team, as they worked through setup adjustments in the collective test sessions, leaving Brewer and Hepworth playing catch-up. The pair were fifth-fastest in class in both official practice sessions on Wednesday before moving into qualifying.
In Q1, Lindsay Brewer delivered a positive run to secure fifth on the grid and 16th overall with a 1:36.347 lap. Jem Hepworth took over for Q2 and nearly matched her teammate’s time, clocking a 1:36.354, placing the team fourth in AM and 15th overall.
Dry conditions greeted the opening race of the week on Thursday. Based on Q1 results, Brewer lined up fifth in AM class.
At the green flag, she made a clean start and quickly moved into P4 in class ahead of Neuls, also gaining a position overall after Gdovic spun.
Under pressure from Neuls within half a second, Brewer defended well on lap 3, holding her ground. By lap 5 she was running third-fastest in class and again managed to keep Neuls behind. On lap 6, Siderman passed McGee for the class lead while Brewer settled into a rhythm in the mid-1:37s.
She then set her personal best on lap 9 with a 1:37.129 — the second-fastest AM lap at that stage — before getting caught behind Staab. On lap 12, Neuls managed to overtake, but Brewer maintained solid pace, with an 11-second gap forming behind.
When the pit window opened, Brewer handed over to Hepworth; Jem cleared Staab in the pits and soon after overtook Neuls following his stop, establishing a two-second gap to her closest rivals thanks to a strong out lap.
Once the pit cycle was complete, Hepworth emerged third in class. Doyle was seven seconds ahead but struggling, and Jem gained another overall position when Persing served a drive-through penalty.
On lap 22, Hepworth crucially overtook Doyle for tenth overall and second in class.
While dueling with the ProAm car of Comeau, who eventually retook the position on lap 26, Hepworth maintained a two-second cushion to Doyle, which she gradually extended.
At the end of a brilliant first race, the all-female duo secured a solid second place in class and tenth overall to start their week on a strong note, maximizing the result.
Hepworth had qualified 15th overall and fourth in AM class for Friday’s race — the final contest of the North American season – and therefore took the start for the RAFA Racing entry. Although still mathematically in contention for the title, it would be difficult to overcome the #110 machine of Graham Doyle and Glenn McGee, who needed only a podium finish to secure the championship.
Nevertheless, the RAFA Racing all-female duo were in full attack mode after their podium in Race 1.
In the early morning start, chaos erupted at Turn 1 as several cars tangled and cut through the runoff. Hepworth avoided the melee and gained five positions overall, emerging second in AM behind Siderman — and crucially ahead of championship rival Doyle, who rejoined third in class and eleventh overall.
Hepworth quickly built a comfortable buffer, lapping a few tenths quicker than Doyle. When Siderman received a drive-through penalty for his part in the opening-lap incidents — served on lap 3 — Hepworth inherited the AM class lead and ninth overall, pulling steadily away.
By lap 6, her advantage over Doyle had grown to five seconds, and she soon began dipping under the 1:38s mark.
As the field settled, Hepworth continued to extend her lead, with De La Torre slotting between the AM frontrunners, giving her additional breathing room. With 30 minutes left, she had stretched the gap to nearly ten seconds and showed no signs of slowing down. She then improved her pace into the 1:36s, setting a 1:36.740 before pitting on lap 16 from third overall and a commanding class lead.
Brewer took over the white, black, and pink #102 Huracán and immediately recorded a 1:38.394 lap, more than ten seconds clear of Neuls and Staab. McGee — having taken over from Doyle — began closing the gap but was temporarily held up by the Pro entry of Gdovic, allowing Brewer to manage the lead.
Maintaining consistent laps in the 1:37s, Brewer controlled the pace and resisted mounting pressure from behind; in the closing stages, she gained ground on the LB Cup entry of Nemschoff, overtaking him with four minutes remaining to claim tenth overall.
As Gdovic couldn’t eventually further close in, Lindsay Brewer held her position to take the AM class victory, securing the team’s second win of the season and wrapping up their rookie campaign in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America on a high note.
“Misano's amazing”, Brewer said after the win. “It's a very tricky track, very technical, so we struggled a bit leading up earlier this week.”
“Got the car dialled in and our qualifying hasn't been very strong this whole season, but I know we have really good race pace and I trust Jemima fully, and so we got the P2 yesterday, today I knew we could win, we had the pace”, she continued.
“Jem did an amazing start, got up to first place, and I just had to take it home. So it was an incredible race, incredible season with RAFA Racing, and I'm just so grateful for this team.”
“From testing at Misano, we definitely struggled with car setup at the beginning, which definitely affected us as well with lap times, but then we got in the rhythm, we got used to the track, got used to the car, finally”, explained Hepworth. “Like Lindsay said, it wasn't the most perfect qualifying to be honest, we have struggled with that, but our race pace has always shined through, and today it really shined through.”
Despite their superb effort, Brewer and Hepworth finished just two points shy of the AM class title, scoring 124 points to the 126 of Glenn McGee and Graham Doyle.
“It's frustrating, two points from the championship – probably won on poles by the other teams, so something to learn from, but we're really happy to come away with second place. Lindsay and I put in the perfect shift today. She brought it home. It was fantastic.”
On Saturday and Sunday, all Lamborghini Super Trofeo entries across the three continental series will be split by class to contest the World Finals, where the overall world titles will be awarded.