We Are Here to Win – Interview with Pippa Mann

Since the 2021 season, Pippa Mann has been one of the prominent members of the Girls Only line-up, being part of the crew that took a class win in the GT4 class of the iconic Nürburgring 24-Hours in 2021 and again a class podium this year. We had the opportunity to have a Q&A with Pippa to talk about her career in single-seaters and endurance racing as well as her projects in promoting women in motorsport. Here is her story.

Photos © Pippa Mann

Pippa’s career has been built on her love for cars. But when she was a child, not coming from a racing family, being a driver didn’t seem realistic and her first experience in a kart only came when she was 12. From the UK to Europe, Pippa left her mark in the world of motorsport and finally landed a shot in Formula Renault in 2003. “I grew up loving cars, watching racing on TV, going to local races with my dad. I always wanted to get on track, but we never thought about me driving because we are not a racing family. When I got to drive myself for the first time on an indoor karting track, that was when I knew I really wanted to be a driver. When I was 17, having the opportunity to go and live in Italy for a few years, and race karts professionally at the highest level wasn’t something you would turn down if you wanted life experience and race craft.”

In Formula Renault, Pippa became the first female driver to start from pole position and score points in 2007 (World Series by Renault). Then in 2009, she started a whole new chapter by moving to the US and racing in the Indy Lights series, the development series for the IndyCar Series. This experience turned out to be rewarding not only in terms of racing results but also in terms of the encouraging environment. “I moved to Sam Schmidt’s Indy Lights team in my second year in the series, this was a team that had already fielded a winning woman in Indy Lights (Ana Beatriz at the 2008 Nashville Indy Lights and the 2009 Iowa Indy Lights), and there was the expectation that if they gave me the car, I would have an equal shot at running up front and winning races. With three poles, four front row starts, a couple of podiums, and a win, I like to think I paid back that chance Sam took on me.”

When I came to America to race in Indy Lights, it was the first time in my career that there was a perception ‘I could’ despite my gender, rather than the expectation being that I couldn’t. It was the first time my gender wasn’t something to overcome – it was just who I was, and no one cared.

During her time in the American open-wheel world, Pippa has collected some of her best memories in racing – winning in Indy Lights in 2010, qualifying for her first Indy500 in 2011, and driving for the Driven2SaveLives program with Clauson Marshall Racing in the 2019 Indy500. “The opportunity to drive the Clauson Marshall Racing | Driven2SaveLives car was both the hardest thing I’ve ever done and the most special thing I’ve ever done.”

After a decade in the American racing scene, a new significant opportunity in the European racing scene found its way towards Pippa – driving with Girls Only in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie GT4 class, including the Nürburgring 24H. “The team was looking to move to a GT4 car, Carrie (Schreiner) and I had met a couple of years previously, and when the team reached out it sounded like a cool project to be part of, so I agreed. The mentality is the same as being a one-off entry at a race like the Indy500. You have a great deal of responsibility towards those who are helping make your program happen – the sponsors, the partners, and the crew. You have to be smart, make good decisions, race the car you currently have on the conditions as they are presenting themselves, and just work to do the best you can with what you’ve got.”

Being the female-only squad in an iconic endurance race also raises a lot of attention, which puts further pressure on the squad. “Due to gender, you also have a responsibility to ensure you are above fault in any way you can be in that high profile of an environment – both on and off the track – because any mistakes you make can be leveled against your entire gender, and all other girls racing.”

Finding the sponsorship to cover the travel costs from America is always a challenge – because I don’t have any control over my race suit, or any space to place partners on the car. I’m also not coaching, and/or getting paid to race in America during the time I spend in Germany, that’s a financial challenge too. However so far I’ve managed to make it work, and I hope to keep doing that.

Motorsport has always been a sport where money can build or break a career. For women in motorsport, it’s especially the case. With the limited opportunities they are given and the limited resources that come with the opportunities, a lot of times women are measured rather unfairly. “We are here to win races. But for us to accomplish that, you have to give us the tools to do the job – and that means enough funding to do the job. If you just fund us as a side project, or to make yourself feel good, you’re helping us maybe make one more race, but you’re doing it in a manner where we’re going to show up at that race without the resources to succeed. Then you’re going to ask us why we didn’t succeed.”

Motorsport has come a long way in highlighting the achievements women have in motorsport when we have the opportunity to compete as equals, but we’re unfortunately still sorely behind in terms of funding female athletes in this sport appropriately. As big brands buy into ‘women’s sports’, women in motorsport are being left off the sidelines, and we’re almost never funded equally, or given the same opportunities.

Knowing how important funding is in a motorsport career, throughout Pippa’s time in the sport, she’s been involved in various projects promoting women in motorsport. Since 2021, upon the request of the founder of the project, Pippa took over Shift Up Now, an organization working to help find funding, partners, and sponsorship for female athletes to continue competing at professional and semi-professional levels in motorsport. Now four years into the program, she continues to work hard and strive to do more for women in motorsport. “Shift Up Now is a project very close to my heart. We’re working hard to help talented female athletes in motorsport close the funding gaps so that they have more opportunities to be in competitive equipment, have enough seat time, have coaching, etc. Since I took over running the organization in 2021, between our core business – Shift Up Now – and our Foundation – we’ve been able to get around $750,000 out to female racers here in the US to help them. While that number is not big in the racing world, when you consider how small we are, and how big that number is in the real world, it makes me pretty proud.”

In the end, as always, we asked Pippa to give some advice to young girls aspiring to be involved in motorsport. Here’s what she said. “Things are changing for the better, but you still have to be prepared to work harder, and be better, to really prove you belong to those who matter. Beware anyone who appears to be handing you something on a plate – nothing in life is free. Just like any other undertaking, work ethic, dedication, determination, tenacity, and talent, will show.”