Jem Hepworth

Jem Hepworth is the winner of the 2020 Britcar Endurance Championship, driving a Praga R1T for Team Motorsport Woman.

Success came young for Jem. As a karter, she represented the UK in the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s first “Girls on Track” finals at Le Mans. She competed at Le Mans but was not one of the girls selected for FIA WIM support.

Overlapping with this, she began her senior career in 2019. Her first race was the Citroen C1 24 Hours at Silverstone, as part of Team Motorsport Woman with Katie Milner, Alice Hughes and Sami Bowler. The team was fifth overall, having run as high as second. Despite being the least experienced member, she set the fastest laps of the four. 

Jem later drove a Motorsport Woman-backed Fiesta in the Ford Fiesta championship at Silverstone. She was ninth in her first race but could not finish the second due to a faulty wheel bearing. 

Her performances in the Citroen C1 helped to get her into the Motorsport Woman Praga for Britcar. She was paired with the slightly more experienced Danny Harrison and the two formed a strong partnership. When Jem was unable to start the first round due to a knee injury, Danny presented her with his trophy following his win. When she returned for the next round, she was down on testing time and not quite as fast as Danny, but she still managed to steer the car to a pair of wins at Brands Hatch, despite technical problems and the car almost running out of fuel. A DNF at Silverstone allowed their Praga rivals Jack Fabby and Garry Townshend to close the gap. Silverstone International led to a win and a frustrating DNF three laps from home, then Fabby and Townshend took one of the wins at Snetterton, with Jem and Danny second. They won the first race. Another win at the second Snetterton meeting put them in a strong position and they only needed second place to secure the championship, which they did in spite of a crash. 

Continuing to work with Motorsport Woman, Jem raced in the Praga category again in 2021. It was a more challenging year for her, partly due to reliability issues. She had been paired with Youtuber Jimmy Broadbent, who was a novice driver and not quite enjoy the same partnership with her as Danny Harrison had. He switched cars to share with Jack Fabby late in the season and she ran some races as a solo driver. She was fifth in the Praga standings.

It was a quieter year on the racing side for her in 2022 as she looked for new opportunities to further her career. She travelled to the USA for the W Series Formula 4 tests and performed well. Initially, she was passed over for a Formula 3 test, but she received a late call-up to Barcelona to try out for a W race seat. She was ultimately not successful, struggling with the grip strength needed for the car's steering.

For some of the season, she joined up with the Gridfinders EnduroKa team. Her best finishes with the multi-driver squad were two fifth places at Oulton Park and Cadwell. She also made some guest appearances in the Praga Cup, now running as a separate grid from Britcar. She earned two more fifth places at Silverstone and Snetterton.

Later in the year, she spent time in the States and Europe, setting up deals for 2022. This ended with her picking up a drive with Rafa Racing in the Mclaren Trophy. This one-make series is based in Europe and Jem got to race at Spa, Monza and the Nurburgring, supporting the Fanatec GT World Challenge. She and team owner Rafael Martinez shared a 570S run by Greystone GT. From the beginning with the season, they were front-runners, almost winning the championship outright until a car problem on the final lap dropped them out of the last race. They were second by just three points.

Having raced karts at Le Mans, Jem’s long-term aim is a run in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

(Image copyright Alan Quick)