Having learnt her trade in Formula Renault, Pippa Mann will make the leap to the World Series by Renault for 2007 after signing a deal to race with Cram by P1, marking the fulfilment of an ambition for the British racer.
Joining forces with new team manager Roly Vincini, whom she reagrds as the reason why Comtec were able to claim the 2006 title at their first attempt, Mann talks about her expectations for the coming season, the respect she has for her new boss and her eagerness to strike another blow for women in motorsport...
Q:
You were a regular face during World Series post-season testing, earning runs with Draco and Pons. How exactly did the deal with Cram come about?
PM
Cram is now based in Norfolk and is being engineered by Roly Vincini from P1 Motorsport, who engineered the Comtec cars last year, with whom I did a test with last year and that went very well – I thought it was the best car I had ever driven. Roly then decided he was going to leave Comtec and was trying to persuade me to go with him into British Formula Three but I had decided by that point that I liked the World Series car far too much and that was what I wanted to do.
There was a bit of a tug-of-war over the winter with me trying to get him to come to Pons if we could persuade them, to be something of a freelance engineer, but he wanted me to come and do Formula Three. Eventually though it came around that he began talking to Cram about moving the team to England and running it and as soon as that came about, I was on the phone pleading for him to give me the drive.
Q:
How much is Roly’s involvement with the team a significant motivation for you personally?
PM
It is a huge motivation for me personally. Roly has a fantastic reputation and he is managing the team, as well as engineering the cars. I actually worked with him a little last year and he is a fantastic engineer and a really great person to work with, so that is a huge motivation.
Q:
How important is his and P1 Motorsport’s presence going to be in making the team regular front runners?
PM
Last year Roly was the senior engineer at Comtec and the team’s junior engineer was also from his staff at P1, so they engineered that car from a blank start to the front running car. Now he has control of Cram, he knows exactly how to make a good car and he will be able to do it to this car.
Q:
Being one of many rookies on the grid in 2007, what are your expectations for the coming season?
PM
There are going to be some races where it will be really tough, where it won’t work out and it will be hard, but there are also going to be races where we do a lot better and I think we will have the ability to bring some really good results. This is partly because, before I even get near the car, I know how good it is going to be. I believe this car will feel exactly the same as the Comtec car I drove. I know there will be ups and downs but we are looking for good results in what will be a steep learning curve.
Q:
Are you looking for points or podiums for 2007, or perhaps looking ahead to 2008?
![Pippa Mann will race for Cram by P1 in the World Series by Renault for 2007 [pic credit: Renault Sport Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/286755.jpg)
