“Nothing Stopping” Hepworth, Brewer in Am Title Fight

Jem Hepworth said there is “nothing stopping” her and co-driver Lindsey Brewer as they chase the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Am class title on the back of their first series win.

The RAFA Racing Team pair secured their first series victory in the No. 2 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 during the single-make series’ last race weekend at Road America following a string of second-place finishes.

Heading into this weekend’s rounds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hepworth and Brewer have an eye on the Am class title with four rounds yo go.

Two domestic rounds at The Brickyard remain, followed by the season finale at Lamborghini’s World Finals event in Misano in November.

The RAFA duo are classified third in the standings, though are level on points with Precision Performance Motorsports’ David Staab, with the trio sitting on 82 points, 17 points behind the leading Wayne Taylor Racing pairing of Graham Doyle and Glenn McGee.

“A couple rounds left. I think now that we’ve got that win and it’s out of the way, I feel like there’s nothing stopping us,” Hepworth told Sportscar365. “We want that championship.”

“The guys who are in first are in first by quite a few points,” added Brewer. “But I think with this momentum, we can still win the championship.

”I love IMS, which is the next round coming up, and then Misano is going to be incredible. I still think we can win this championship, which is the goal.”

Both drivers remarked that they felt their first series win would come at Road America, with the series rookies having built momentum with five total Am class podiums, including three consecutive runner-up finishes before finally breaking through to victory lane for the first time in Wisconsin.

“After the two seconds at Watkins Glen, we were like ‘Come on. That win’s coming. It’s coming. It’s going to be Road America,” said Hepworth.

“We knew we were going to be fast here, and we knew we wanted that win. It was just whether luck would go in our favor, and luckily it did.”

“We just knew it was going to happen,” Brewer added. “My quali lap was impeded and I had to start all the way back in P22 overall and P5 in class.

“The start was insane. I gained 10 spots on the start and ended up P3 in class and the Jem brought home the win. It was incredible. We’ve been wanting this for quite a while now.”

Both drivers mentioned that a crucial aspect of their success this season has been their partnership and bonds as teammates as well as the camaraderie they have formed as the only all-women lineup on the grid.

“It’s definitely the dynamic between me and Lindsey that’s working so well,” said Hepworth. “We work so well back and forth with each other. We push each other.

”We have a healthy teammate relationship where we just want to go out there and win. We’re not competitive against each other, but we do push each other in a good, healthy way. A competitive way.

”She learns from me, and I learn from her. I could bring her all the experience I have from endurance racing and teamwork, and give her that because she’s not had any of that.

”This is her first year in sports cars. So I’m helping her a lot, but she’s also helping me a lot.”

“Jem has been an incredible teammate,” said Brewer. “I think we work so well because I bring some of the fun energy, and she’s very analytical and more relaxed, and I think our personalities mesh really well together. We have a really good dynamic within the team.

“It’s nice that we’re such good friends off the track. We really get each other.

”As cliché as it sounds, no one really understands what it’s like to be a woman in the sport, and she fully understands what I’m going through. So if I’m having a hard day, she knows exactly why and she knows exactly what to say, and vice versa.

“I think the fact that we’ve teamed up really helps our mental health as well, going into the race weekends. We’re just such a strong team that way.”