Pippa Mann LATEST Mann hopes to announce plans for her 2010 season over the next few months. Bio Results Latest News Schedule Snippets Job Search Finding a new ride Mann, Wilson to test at Kentucky with SSM Contact: www.pippamann.com or E-Mail Related Issue: Women Racers Directory, Women in Racing, Women Racers, More Women in Racing, Race Schedules, Notable Women Bio Nationality: British Date of Birth: August 1, 1983 Birthplace: Ipswich, England Residence: Indianapolis Height: 5' 5" Hobbies: AC Milan, squash, music, shopping Favourite Food: Anything I'm not meant to be eating! Born in London but now resident in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, Pippa Mann started competing in karting aged 13, racing in the categories of Junior TKM, JICA and Formula A, competing in the British Championships and selected races in Europe. Mann is pragmatic about her expectations for the season: "This is going to be a learning year for me as I will certainly be one of the less experienced drivers in the field. However, this is not a short-term project and I am confident that with the expertise and experience of the team I will be able to fulfil my potential." Mann Forced Out of Second Consecutive Top 15 Finish. Mann will be back in action on August 18-19 at Spa-Francorchamps in Belguim for the next round of the 2007 World Series by Renault Championship. Away from the track Pippa enjoys music, squash and following the fortunes of AC Milan. Snippets Pippa had her highest start this season in 3rd at Homestead and finished 67 laps in 8th which gave her a 14th overall for the series. *     *     * Pippa started Chicagoland in 5th and finished 64 laps in 9th. *     *     * Pippa started Infineon in 15th and finished in 14th. She maintains14th place overall.   *     *     * Pippa started in 19th (last positoin) and finished in 15th at Kentucky. She is currently in 15th positoin in the standings. *     *     * Pippa was gridded at 15th on the Edmonton Airport circuit and finished 11th, one spot ahead of Ana Beatriz *     *     * Pippa gridded 14th and finished in 17th at Toronto. Results  In 2001 she decided to concentrate full time on karting and moved to Italy, the home of karting. As well as racing, Pippa found time to learn Italian (which she now speaks fluently) and to write for a number of motoring journals. By 2003 Pippa was driving for one of the leading kart teams, CRG, and taking part in the highly competitive Italian, European and World Championship Kart races. In a field dominated by male drivers (maybe two or three women in every 80 drivers), Pippa is the only British female to have won an international kart race. In 2004 Pippa returned to the UK and started racing in the UK Formula Renault Championship. During her first season Pippa held her ground in a very competitive field, racing against drivers with two or more years' experience in single seaters. Drove in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK for Team JVA In 2005 Pippa secured a two-year contract to drive for Comtec Racing in the Formula Renault Eurocup. Comtec is the only UK team to compete in the Formula Renault Eurocup. Her first year in Eurocup saw her peaking at 14th, however Pippa says her highlight was qualifying 7th at Donington Park. 2005 also saw Pippa competing in the French Championships. Despite being new to the circuits and having only 40 minutes' testing at each race, Pippa was able to get into the points, the first female driver to do so in about ten years. In 2006 Pippa raced in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship as well as the Eurocup. She had a frustrating season but managed to achieve some of her best results ever, which led to her participating in some World Series by Renault tests over the winter. In January 2007, Pippa signed for Cram by P1 Europe to become the first female to race in the World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship. She scored a point in her debut in the World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship. Earned a pole position in the World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship. In 2008 she comepted in the World Series by Renault 3.5 for P1 Motrorsport with best finish of seventh at the Nurburgring. Raced with Team Eurotech in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 997. 2009  Date Track Start Finish Qual Speed Laps Status 4/4/09 St Pete 20 18 91.074 40 Running 4/5/09 St Pete 22 24 92.878 17 Contact 4/19/09 Long Beach 22 14 91.565 45 Running 4/26/09 Kansas 5 16 186.386 57 Contact 5/22/09 Indianapolis 8 21 188.413 7 Contact 5/31/09 Milwaukee 9 9 145.176 98 Running 6/20/09 Iowa 7 13 159.909 105 Running 7/4/09 Watkins Glen 20 14 120.730 30 Running 7/11/09 Toronto 14 16 95.137 46 Running 7/25/09 Edmonton 15 11 99.740 49 Running 8/1/09 Kentucky 19 15 NA 65 Running 8/9/09 Mid-Ohio 18 15 104.280 40 Running 8/23/09 Infineon 15 14 98.186 40 Running 8/29/09 Chicago 5 9 188.300 64 Running 10/9/09 Homestead 3 8 185.364 67 Running Job Search Throughout the off-season, Firestone Indy Lights driver Pippa Mann will share her job hunt with race fans through a blog firestoneindylights.com. Today, she takes testing with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Since my first outing back in a car a couple of weeks ago at Kentucky, I've been keeping busy with all the other stuff racing driver's do in the off season. I've been training myself into the ground with the kind help of those at PitFit, and also down at the Sam Schmidt Motorsports workshop - debriefing from Kentucky and preparing for my next outing at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. My manager also came to town, and we had a week of meetings, which meant eating at a number of very nice restaurants. It's lucky he doesn't come to town too often, as if I ate at those places all the time I'm sure I would soon be too big to fit in a car at all! Talking of fitting back into a car. I was pretty excited about my next outing with the team. I may love the ovals, but as a European driver, I come from road racing and the big famous European circuits back home. My next test would involve me turning right more than I did left, as I would be getting back to my racing roots running at Barber. Monday morning - the day of the test - started early. Part of the reason for the early start is the light seems to start and end early in Alabama at this time of year. This meant we were out on the track by 8:30 a.m., and would have until 4 p.m. before the light ceased to cooperate. I had already been told that this car would require a different driving style to what I was used to, and I knew I would have a lot to learn. So, I was the first car out onto the circuit, getting the sound of the engine echoing around the facility, and knocking the cobwebs off remembering how to turn right after nearly three months of running on ovals. The car really was different, but I just started driving it, and began to enjoy lap after lap. My pace was improving throughout the morning and the lap times came tumbling down - things were looking good. Then, just before lunch time, I kind of stalled out. It became apparent that to go faster again I needed to work on a different driving technique - one that's completely new to me as a driver. Back home in Europe, I went straight from Formula Renault 2.0 to Formula Renault 3.5, and I completely skipped a 'middle series' such as Formula 3. This Indy Lights car was much more like an F3 car - so back to school for me then! The afternoon was spent working on putting into practice the things which were so easy to say and understand when in the pits, but actually much more difficult to do when out on circuit. Unlearning what you know, and learning something new, even just the smallest detail, is basically trying to get rid of bad habits - and it's not easy! However I gradually started to get better at kicking my bad habits, and the lap times certainly showed their appreciation! It's a great feeling knowing you're starting to do something right, but that still doesn't make the road ahead any easier… In the end, I set my best lap time of the day as the track surface and temperature were going away from us right at the end of the test. Everybody else had slowed up a bit at that point, but I was still learning, and still getting quicker. I didn't run as fast as I wanted to at the start of the test, but I still ran much better than I had done previously this year on a road course. The main thing is that not only had I started the process of putting understanding into action on the track, but if you can understand why you're fast, you stand a better chance of being faster everywhere you go. Finding a new ride Oct. 23, 2009 Throughout the offseason, Firestone Indy Lights driver Pippa Mann will share her job hunt with racefans through a blog firestoneindylights.com. Today, she details the beginning of the search for a ride for 2010. I woke up on Monday morning (Oct. 19), just over a week after the Homestead-Miami finale, and my one, over-riding thought is that I currently don't have a job. There are lots of people out there in this situation at the moment, and in racing, at the end of each season, it's kind of normal for drivers to find themselves looking to the following season not yet sure what they'll be driving. It might be normal, but it's still a stressful time of year. To put together a deal for the following year requires money, but sponsors are always hard to come across. Good teams always want good drivers, but teams have to be able to pay their bills too, or it will go out of business. I train at PitFit, and on that Monday morning, the training was a chore. Normally, despite their consistent and varied attempts to kill me, I actually quite enjoy the challenge. However, for one of the first times ever, it just felt like a chore. Then at lunchtime, I had a phone call from my manager back home in England. He asked whether I would like to go and have a seat made for a test at Kentucky this Thursday. Of course! And with Sam Schmidt Motorsports? Even better. When I drove down to the SSM shop for the first time on Tuesday morning I felt like the new girl at school. I checked my kit bag probably a hundred times, and I was still convinced I was going to forget something obvious and look fairly stupid on my first day. Thankfully for once, I didn't… In my meetings with the engineers before the test, they told me about how they run their cars, and given me a good idea what to expect when I got in. I knew it was going to be a bit different from what I was used to, so I took in all the advice they could give me. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, the car was in pit lane, and we were ready to rock 'n' roll. My first few laps went something like this: Lap 1 - It's cold out here today Lap 2 -- Yep I'm still sliding Lap 3 -- This is more like it Lap 4 - Going flat out, now let's find out where this car likes to run Lap 5 - Okay - now we're talking… The car was completely different in handling terms from the car I've been driving all year, but immediately I started to understand and like driving it. The lap times followed suit and Lap 5 was the first 'money lap' of the day. Despite the different handling, I was running fast, consistent, and above all, enjoying it. We had plenty more of those money laps over the course of the day, and overall, it was a great day's testing. I was so comfortable and confident in the car that I wished that the track was full of cars so that I could get a feel for driving it in traffic. If the car handled that differently by itself, I couldn't wait to find out what it would be like in a pack - bring it on! Well next up for me - we do have plans to run again, perhaps on a road course. You'll have to watch this space! Mann, Wilson to test at Kentucky with SSM Pippa Mann will return to the cockpit of a Firestone Indy Lights car when she tests with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The one-day test is scheduled for Oct. 22 at Kentucky Speedway, where the team will be running Mann and Stefan Wilson. "The only Firestone Indy Lights car I have driven up until now has been the #16 Panther Racing car, so it will be extremely interesting for me to test with another team," Mann said. "The chance to do so with an outfit as highly regarded as Sam Schmidt Motorsports is a great opportunity for me, and I'm really looking forward to getting onto the track. Although we're still undecided on plans for next year, this gives me a positive feeling about what we're trying to achieve." Mann completed her debut Firestone Indy Lights season with Panther Racing, achieving a string of top 15 finishes, including three top ten results. The rookie driver also managed to claim a top ten qualifying spot in all of the oval races, and started her final race of the season from third on the grid. "I have had the opportunity recently to speak with Pippa at length about her goals and ambitions in motorsports and was extremely impressed with her drive, determination, and focus to be successful," said Sam Schmidt Motorsports owner Sam Schmidt. "She has a very disciplined and technical approach, and we are very much looking forward to testing with her." Mann hopes to announce plans for her 2010 season over the next few months. Schedule *    *    * WomenInRacing.org ©1996-2009 by of Gordon Clay