By C. Santhosh Kumar, DC: Pippa Mann relishes fighting against the odds. When she was 17, the British girl had to leave school and work as a waitress in a pizza restaurant to fuel her racing dreams. As not many people encouraged a girl in a racing overall, Pippa was then forced to cross the Atlantic before making history on American soil — the first British girl to line-up at the prestigious Indy 500. Now at 28 as an established contender in famous IndyCar series, Pippa has a battle in hand. She’s onthe fast-track to recovery after her pinkie and ring finger on right hand were badly burnt and required five hours of surgery after a horrifying multiple-car pileup that killed Dan Wheldon in the Indy finale last year at Las Vegas. Pippa, who is one of the biggest stars to be featured in the inaugural season of the i1 Super Series organised by Machdar Motorsports, says the Indian league will be good preparation ahead of her new IndyCar season. “Having sustained an injury, getting back in the car (Radical SR3 at i1) before I am back in an IndyCar allows to rehab my hand on the job, while getting to a drive a different style of car and visiting a few new countries will add to the challenge,” she added. According to Pippa, America is a paradise for women racers. “Europe is still a lot more prejudice towards us. I don’t want to be on track because I'm a novelty; I am here because I am as skilled as anyone else. If I can turn up and do every aspect of my job as well as the guy next to me, I have to treated on a par with him. That’s something I love about the US. The fact that women shouldn’t be in F1 seems to be much more ingrained into people in Europe than it is in the US,” Pippa said. Source: The Asian Age
Friday, 22 February 2013
IndyCar star Pippa excited about i1 Super Series
By C. Santhosh Kumar, DC: Pippa Mann relishes fighting against the odds. When she was 17, the British girl had to leave school and work as a waitress in a pizza restaurant to fuel her racing dreams. As not many people encouraged a girl in a racing overall, Pippa was then forced to cross the Atlantic before making history on American soil — the first British girl to line-up at the prestigious Indy 500. Now at 28 as an established contender in famous IndyCar series, Pippa has a battle in hand. She’s onthe fast-track to recovery after her pinkie and ring finger on right hand were badly burnt and required five hours of surgery after a horrifying multiple-car pileup that killed Dan Wheldon in the Indy finale last year at Las Vegas. Pippa, who is one of the biggest stars to be featured in the inaugural season of the i1 Super Series organised by Machdar Motorsports, says the Indian league will be good preparation ahead of her new IndyCar season. “Having sustained an injury, getting back in the car (Radical SR3 at i1) before I am back in an IndyCar allows to rehab my hand on the job, while getting to a drive a different style of car and visiting a few new countries will add to the challenge,” she added. According to Pippa, America is a paradise for women racers. “Europe is still a lot more prejudice towards us. I don’t want to be on track because I'm a novelty; I am here because I am as skilled as anyone else. If I can turn up and do every aspect of my job as well as the guy next to me, I have to treated on a par with him. That’s something I love about the US. The fact that women shouldn’t be in F1 seems to be much more ingrained into people in Europe than it is in the US,” Pippa said. Source: The Asian Age
