One of the standout new additions to this year’s field has been the RAFA Racing Team’s twin McLaren Artura GT4s, with its Silver entry of Jem Hepworth and Cameron Lawrence catching the eye with more than a few strong performances.
One of three female drivers on this year’s grid, Hepworth celebrated twin Top Rookie awards (at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza) and took the fight to the established Pro drivers at every turn. We caught up with her to talk about her roots in quad bikes, being part of the RAFA crew, and beating the Pros.
Jem, what a great first year of GT4 Europe. But where did you catch the racing bug?
“For me was when I was seven years old, from quad bikes to go-karts and into cars at the age of 19. I began with 90-minute races on quad bikes. I was tiny when I was seven and was handling these quads for hour-and-a-half endurance races. Myself and my dad did it and he was my mechanic. Then we took it into go-karts as we started doing well and wanted to progress, and we’ve never really stopped since.”
When did you move into car racing?
“It was in a championship called Britcar with a Praga prototype, which was quite a step up from a kart! I did a few races in a Citroën C1 and a Ford Fiesta to get my licence signatures and then straight into this prototype. The first words I ever got when I told people that I was going to do were like ‘No, no, no… that’s crazy!’. Luckily I had people around me that believed in me and we went and won the championship at the first try.”
What was the Praga like?
“I loved it. It was a lot like a single-seater and I loved the downforce it had, feeling it grip going into corners and being able to take that much speed through corners. But it was a lot to adjust to and finding that confidence to carry the speed through corners was difficult to build up at first. But I learned a load from it, it’s quite counter-intuitive that the faster you go the more grip you have. When I first jumped in the McLaren in 2022 I feel the Praga experience really helped.”
So how did you become part of the RAFA Racing Team?
“It’s a crazy story, all word of mouth really. Rafael was in London at the time visiting the McLaren factory. At that time he wanted to race and was going to the Pure McLaren driving events, but he also wanted the team to help support females in motorsport. My manager put my name forward to him and before I knew it we were invited to the US Grand Prix in Austin to meet the whole crew and go and try the McLaren GT4. It went really well from the start and we formed a great bond really quickly. We enjoyed a great first year together in the McLaren Trophy, and without the team at RAFA I wouldn’t be the driver I am today.”
How have you found GT4 Europe this year?
“I’ve loved every second of this championship. I won’t lie, it is intimidating when you see 50+ cars on the grid, but for development of skills there’s nothing better than racing here as the competition is so close. Every single driver is quick, it’s about going out there and proving your racecraft and overtaking ability. This championship throws everything at you, and it’s the best place to develop your skills.”
What’s it like working with Cameron?
“It’s awesome to drive with him. He’s had great success at events like the Daytona 24 Hours and is an incredible Pro. He’s got more experience than me but that’s great as we spend a lot of time coaching and going through data and he’s improved my driving no end this season. I’ve learned huge amounts from him, and I like to think he learned the odd thing from me too. One special moment for me was at Hockenheim when I out-qualified all the Pros. I did like that, and I could feel the pride in the team with people like Cameron and Jon Lancaster, who have all contributed to that.”
Were there any other stand-out moments?
“Oh yeah, especially race one at Monza. We started P16 so it was a bit of a struggle, but I had my engineer in my ear saying ‘you’re third quickest of anybody in this stint, keep it going’, and to hear that felt amazing. I was overtaking and moving forward all the time and ended up P10 overall and best rookie. Our aim all season was just to fight inside the top 10 and get in around the podium places when we could, and we did that a lot this season.”
And you do a lot on social media too, with some commentary for other racing and Esports?
“Yeah exactly. I think every driver knows that doing a lot of stuff off track is a big thing now for getting your name out there and developing your driving. Grid Finder is huge in the Esports space and they’re linked to RAFA Racing so I really enjoyed doing some stuff for them. I know the Esports community quite well and I enjoy watching it, plus sim time is great practice as you’re always learning something, and it’s a lot easier to go testing in the sim than in real life!”
