By Chloe Chambers
This year has marked a completely new challenge for me as I joined RAFA Racing Team for my debut season in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America after spending the past two years competing internationally in F1 Academy.
Moving from open-wheel racing into sports car competition has definitely been one of the biggest adjustments of my career so far, but it’s also been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in racing.
Learning an entirely different style of racing
Coming into the season, I knew there was going to be a lot to adapt to.
Even though I’ve driven different cars throughout my career, the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 is unlike anything I’ve raced before.
The style of racing is different, the race weekends are different, and even some of the smaller details behind the scenes are things I’ve had to learn from scratch.
One of the biggest adjustments has honestly been something people probably don’t even think about – driver changes.
For both my teammate Ian Porter and me, this is our first time doing proper endurance-style driver changes, and we also have a pretty big height difference, which complicates things a little bit.
The Lamborghini doesn’t have a seat slider like the Porsche I used to race in Sprint Challenge North America, and if it did, it would make life so much easier. Instead, I use a seat insert, but with those, you can only do so much.
Ian has had to compromise a little bit with his driving position because of that, sitting a bit closer to the wheel and pedals than he would naturally prefer. We’ve spent most of the year adjusting things to find a setup that works for both of us, and I think after Laguna Seca, we finally got it into a really good window.
That’s something people probably don’t realize about endurance racing. Comfort inside the car matters so much because if something feels off physically, it’s hard to fully focus on performance.
Adapting from open-wheel cars to GT machinery
The actual driving side has also been a huge adjustment for me. Coming from the open-wheel world, I was used to lighter cars where everything happens really quickly.
The Lamborghini has a lot more power than anything I’ve driven before. While I’ve raced high-downforce cars already, the way downforce works in a sports car feels completely different compared to formula racing.
That’s probably been the biggest learning area so far – understanding where the limit is in the Lamborghini and becoming comfortable with how the car behaves right on the edge of grip.
In open-wheel racing, your inputs are usually really sharp and aggressive because the cars react so quickly. In the Lamborghini, everything requires a little more patience and anticipation. I’ve had to retrain myself in some ways and learn to prepare corners earlier than I naturally would in an open-wheel car.
I really felt that at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca because it’s such a technical track with elevation changes and corners where you have to place the car perfectly.
That weekend was frustrating for us because we had an issue in qualifying, which meant we had to start at the back. In Lamborghini Super Trofeo, even though everybody is driving the same car, it’s still multi-class racing, so the field spread is huge.
When you start at the back, it becomes really difficult to move forward without losing time to the cars in your own class. I think we could have had a really strong result there without the qualifying issue, but weekends like that are still valuable because you learn a lot from them.
Building chemistry with Ian Porter
One of the best parts of the season so far has definitely been working with Ian.
We both really want to improve and get stronger results, and I think that creates a really positive environment inside the team. Ian brings a lot of knowledge from sim racing, coaching and different racing categories, and he’s been really helpful as I continue adapting to sports cars.
It’s also nice because there are still tracks on the schedule that are new for both of us, so we’re learning together in a lot of ways.
Next up for us is Watkins Glen International, which will actually be my first time driving there. I’ve visited before because I used to live in New York and would go watch races there, but driving it myself is obviously a completely different experience.
The simulator work has already started, and having Ian as a teammate helps a lot because he’s really strong with sim work and does a great job helping correlate what the Lamborghini feels like virtually compared to real life.
The sim has always been a really important tool for me, especially from my time in F1 Academy, where we often had limited track time. You learn quickly that it’s less about memorizing every tiny detail and more about understanding the overall rhythm of a circuit so you can adapt once you actually get into the car.
Finding balance again
Outside the car, this year has honestly been a really nice change of pace too.
The last couple of years involved a huge amount of international travel, and I was probably home only about half the year. I really enjoyed those experiences, but at the same time, constant travel definitely becomes exhausting after a while.
This season has felt much more balanced because I’m racing primarily in the United States again. It’s nice being able to travel somewhere in a single day rather than spending two full days flying internationally and dealing with jet lag before even arriving at the racetrack.
It’s also made it much easier to stay consistent with my fitness routine. Sports car racing requires a different type of fitness compared to open-wheel racing, so I’ve had to adapt my training this year while still staying ready in case another open-wheel opportunity comes up.
Growing with RAFA Racing Team
Joining RAFA Racing Team has also been a really cool experience.
RAFA has a unique atmosphere because there’s a strong media and branding side to the program, but at the same time everybody within the team is extremely competitive and focused on results. Coming from F1 Academy, where media commitments are already a major part of every race weekend, that side of things felt pretty natural to me.
At the end of the day though, the team is there to help us improve as drivers and continue developing throughout the season, and I think that environment has made this transition into sports car racing much smoother for me.
There’s still a lot for me to learn in Lamborghini Super Trofeo, but honestly that’s one of the things I’m enjoying most about this season. Every weekend feels like another step forward, whether that’s understanding the car better, improving racecraft in traffic or simply becoming more comfortable in this new environment.
I feel like we’re continuing to build momentum every round, and I’m excited to keep progressing with RAFA Racing Team through the rest of the season.
