HISTORY

 

Born in London but now resident in Ipswich, 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.

In 2001 she decided to concentrate full time on karting and moved to Italy, the home of karting. As well as racing, Mann found time to learn Italian (which she now speaks fluently) and to write for a number of motoring journals.

By 2003 she 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), Mann is the only British female to have won an international kart race.

In 2004 she returned to the UK and started racing in the UK Formula Renault Championship. During her first season Mann held her ground in a very competitive field, racing against drivers with two or more years' experience in single-seaters.

In 2005 Mann 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 Mann says her highlight was qualifying 7th at Donington Park. 2005 also saw Mann competing in the French Championships. Despite being new to the circuits and having only 40 minutes' testing at each race, Mann was able to get into the points, the first female driver to do so in about ten years.

In 2006 Mann 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, Mann signed for Cram by P1 Europe to become the first female to race in the World Series by Renault 3.5 Championship.

The young Brit was pragmatic about her expectations for the season, and in her debut year she managed to score a point and also start from pole position. Having achieved some consistent finishes despite a troubled second half of the year, Mann re-signed with P1 Motorsport and Roly Vincini in January 2008.

Mann's second season in the World Series by Renault proved to be a tough one, after she struggled to get to grips with the new car that seemed to work against her driving style, coupled with a run of bad luck during the middle of the season. Nevertheless, the P1 driver achieved seven top 15 finishes, helping her team to an impressive third place in the championship. Mann also attained her highest ever finish when she came from the back of the grid (following mechanical problems in qualifying) to take a deserved seventh position.

In September 2008, Mann confirmed that she would join Panther Racing to contest the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Series. Mann finished her debut season having achieved 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.

December 2009 saw Mann announce she would be returning to the Firestone Indy Lights Series, and racing for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in the #11 car.

In 2010, Mann inscribed her name in the history books as the first female to win a pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That same year, despite breaking her hand during practice for the Toronto 100, Mann took her first Firestone Indy Lights victory just seven weeks later at Kentucky Speedway - where she led the race from start to finish. Mann scored three pole positions, four top five finishes, and a dominant win during the 2010 season, seeing the young Brit finish fifth in the driver's championship.

After a successful test with them in Texas earlier this year, Mann teamed up with Conquest Racing to make her debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series - as driver of the #36 car in ths year's Indianapolis 500. Mann is the fourth female on the 2011 entry list, but the first ever British female to contest the 500-mile race.