Grisham Looking to “Compete at the Top Levels” in Series Debut

Hannah Grisham says she is “excited” for her Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend with Forty7 Motorsports and that her goal is to show she “can compete at the top levels of sports car racing.”

Grisham is paired up with Keawn Tandon aboard the No. 55 Forty7 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 for for what is likely to be a one-off appearance.

Nevertheless, the 24-year old maintains that she is “trying to learn” as much as she can from her inaugural Lamborghini single-make weekend.

“This is kind of just testing the waters. I think as of now this is kind of a one-off,” Grisham told Sportscar365.

“But it’s racing and anything could happen so we’ll see. I’m paired up with Keawn and he’s super quick, so I’m excited.

“Of course we always want to win, but I think I’m more just taking it moment-by-moment and trying to learn as much as I can and really soak up this experience and hopefully try and translate that to other things or doing more of this or whatever it leads to.

“I’m just taking it as a big learning experience and living in the moment.”

Grisham is the 2022 Heart of Racing Team Female Shootout winner, and has been competing with backing from the Ian James-led racing team ever since.

She currently competes in Pirelli GT4 America’s Silver class where she and co-driver Hanna Greenemeir have collected five podiums and a class win in Sonoma in their No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Her 2023 Am class campaign in the series yielded a double win at The Brickyard with Rianna O’Meara-Hunt, despite having no prior experience on the 2.439-mile road course.

“We got lucky here last year so [I’m] hoping to carry that momentum and hopefully kiss the bricks at the end of the weekend,” said Grisham.

“I hope I can be in this paddock more in the future and hopefully this gets me some more eyes [on me].

“I’m excited, I just want to have a good showing.”

Grisham, who’s only other prior IMSA-sanctioned experience came in the form of a single race start in the Mazda MX-5 Cup with Hixon Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway in 2021, says she is “excited to be back in the IMSA paddock.”

“This is the premier sports car league in the country and one of the most [premier] in the world,” said the California native.

“So I think maybe there’s a little bit of pressure with that. It’s good. I’m excited.”

The Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 will be the most powerful race car Grisham has competed in to date, with a significant step up in both horsepower and downforce levels from her usual GT4 specification machinery.

“It’s definitely a different animal,” she said.

“This is just a faster car. It has a little more downforce than the Aston, but they just kind of drive differently have have a bit of a different style and technique compared to each other so I’m kind of trying to adapt to that.

“I did do a test at COTA before the WEC race went there. Seat time always helps.

“It’s fun. I’m excited. It should be good racing.”

Grisham’s alliance with Forty7 this weekend came via personal a connection with 2004 Indianapolis 500 and 2009 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona winner Buddy Rice, who acts as the team manager and technical director.

“I’ve known Buddy Rice for a long time,” said Grisham.

“Through him I met the owner, Garrett [Kletjian] and everything. Buddy is a really great family friend and has always tried to help me out throughout the years.

“It just worked out this weekend. [I’m] really grateful to the whole team, to Buddy, to Forty7, and of course to the Heart of Racing because they set me up for all of this in terms of experience.”