A busy Donington weekend proves Mann more than capable

Comtec Racing’s Pippa Mann claimed ninth place in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship race this past weekend at Donington – her first top ten finish ever.  After crossing the line in eleventh and narrowly missing out in the Race One, Mann was determined not to let her rivals get the better of her, and in doing so was deservedly awarded Driver of the Day.

Mann’s double championship challenge converged at Donington Park at the weekend, where the Suffolk driver faced her busiest event of the year competing in both the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship and the FR 2.0 Europcup.  Mann participated in a total of two qualifying sessions and a gruelling four races during the course of the event, which remarkably produced her best results of the year.  Mann qualified well, managing to secure 16th and 17th positions for the two Eurocup races, and solid eighth and ninth positions for FR 2.0 UK Race One and Race Two respectively.  The first Eurocup race ended in disappointment after an incident on lap one caused Mann to retire, but she battled on in the second race to claim 15th position.  In the British rounds, another incident caused her to fall out of contention in Race One, but Mann fought her way back through the field to finish in a credible eleventh place. 

Late Sunday afternoon, Mann’s UK car occupied eighth place on the starting grid for the last of four races for the young British driver. Getting off the line perfectly, Mann held her position into the first corner and remained in eighth place for the first couple of laps. An incident involving James Sutton (Fortec Motorsport) occurred coming into the Melbourne Hairpin, and due to a damaged front wing, Mann struggled with the car for a lap or so, trying to adapt her driving to suit the sudden change in it’s handling, costing her a couple of places. Under pressure, she battled the car around the Donington Park circuit, managing to stay ahead of the four cars that were bearing down on her. In an amazing show of determination and skill, Mann held on to her ninth position as she crossed the line to take her best finish ever. She was later awarded Driver of the Day – a deserving acknowledgement for her achievements.

“Having lost the front wing, I honestly thought it was all over again but I started to work out how to drive the car under new conditions, and managed to fend them all off. It’s been a tough weekend mentally because qualifying was so much better than it has been - I think we assumed all the races would follow suit. However, this last one did and I’m more than happy to get my first top ten finish, especially under difficult circumstances because I had to fight for it. Let’s hope this is the first of many more.”