Pippa Mann has finished the Iowa round of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights series in a solid eighth place.
The young Brit qualified the #11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports car in a credible eighth position, despite entering this weekend’s event after a disappointing finish at Indianapolis, when she was taken out of contention avoiding someone else’s accident. The crash left her with a sore body and the team with a damaged race car.
However, the team repaired the car, and Mann put in a solid performance in the race, to take a strong top ten finish at Iowa Speedway.
LOS ANGELES, CA (June 20, 2010) – Handling issues forced an early end to IndyCar driver Milka Duno’s competition in today’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. By lap 31 of the 250-lap race it was obvious that the car was just not performing as well as it had in the practice sessions leading up to the race.Read More
Question: When you started racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series 11 years ago, did you think you’d be here racing as an owner/driver?
SARAH FISHER: There have been a lot of ups and downs in my career, and I definitely didn’t see myself here. I’ve had to rebound to where I am, which is fantastic. To own my own team, own my own cars and work with my own people is something I’m most proud of now.
Question: You’re not running the full schedule and Sara Fisher Racing will run selected events for the rest of the year. Your plans have not changed, correct?Read More
In a sport that continues to grow, auto racing also has seen an increase in female drivers. But the sport has yet to see a woman break into the top-tier NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on a regular basis.
While Danica Patrick, perhaps the most well-known of the female drivers, has run in three Nationwide Series this year — at Daytona, Fontana, Calif., and Las Vegas — most women are making their mark in the IndyCar Series and the National Hot Rod Association. That could be about to change.Read More
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Simona de Silvestro was named the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year Monday as part of the annual awards banquet following the historic event.
De Silvestro started 22nd and drove the No. 78 HVM Racing entry to a 14th-place finish, the last car on the lead lap. It was her best finish of the year in only her second career oval start. Read More
LOS ANGELES, CA (MAY 24, 2010) – The format for this year’s Indy 500 offered new and unique challenges to the 41 entries vying for a spot in the coveted 33 car starting field. This is the first year in modern history that the qualifying format for the legendary race was scaled back to a single weekend, making the challenges of car set-ups, weather conditions and the luck of the draw all crucial factors.
Duno showed great promise on opening weekend and throughout the week leading up to this past weekend’s qualifying sessions. Weather conditions leading up to qualifying were very favorable, but for the first time since on-track preparations started hot, humid and windy conditions for both Saturday and Sunday would become part of the challenge for Duno and the Dale Coyne Racing team.
Duno drew the 44th spot for Saturday’s session and went out in hotter conditions – but still managed a 222mph+ qualifying time – bettering her successful qualifying time of 221mph for the 2009 race. She would eventually be bumped from the top 24 spots that were available on Saturday but determined to secure one of the final 9 available spots on Sunday.Read More
Pippa Mann’s dream of becoming the first female to win a sanctioned race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May came to a crashing halt on just the second lap of the Indy Lights Firestone Freedom 100.
Mann had started on the pole — becoming the first of her gender to do that at IMS — but after falling back to seventh she was pushed hard into the wall by veteran driver Jeff Simmons.
“The car felt good and I knew we were in a good position. We just needed to stay out of trouble,” Mann said afterwards.
“Unfortunately, Jeff was forced down on to the white line and his car just spun in front of me. I tried to avoid him as best I could but in reality, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time today.”Read More
We’ve got such a lot to be proud of here in the UK, the most democratic electoral system in the world, the best football teams, the best weather and even the most talented entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Oh sorry, I was dreaming again…
Sometimes though we can’t help complaining about our lot compared to other nations, so it’s great to find a bit of news that puts the ‘Great’ back into Britain, especially when it comes from such an unexpected source.
If like me you consider yourself a died-in-the-wool petrolhead then you’ll be ashamed to discover how little you know about Pippa Mann. Pippa who?
She’s a 26-year old professional racing driver who has steadily worked herself up the ranks, starting in karts at the tender age of 13 then after becoming the only British female to win an international kart race she progressed up to UK Formula Renault in 2004.Read More
Danica Patrick could do no wrong in her 2005 debut in the Indianapolis 500.
Her every lap was chronicled as if it bore the historical significance of a lunar landing. And when she seized the lead with 10 laps to go, the 300,000 fans in the stands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway went wild.
Though Patrick finished fourth, forced to conserve fuel in order to complete the distance, it seemed at that moment that the 23-year-old rookie was poised to revive lagging interest in IndyCar racing and redefine what was possible for female athletes.
“It’s not my fault,” Patrick said over the public-address system after her 224.217-mph effort landed her 23rd in the 33-car field, barely locking in one of the 24 starting spots awarded the first day of a new two-day qualifying format.
Patrick wasn’t the day’s fastest woman, either, outperformed by two rookies: Ana Beatriz of Brazil, who’ll line up 21st (224.243 mph) in Sunday’s 94th running of the Indianapolis 500, and Simona de Silvestro of Switzerland, who’ll start 22nd (224.228 mph). Read More
