Pippa Mann – Silverstone
In many ways this was not the Silverstone weekend I had hoped for, but despite not getting the results I’d wanted, it was actually a pretty an amazing weekend – because of you, the fans!
Testing on Friday seemed to go fairly well and I was pretty confident going into qualifying on Saturday morning. Then in qualifying the tyres just didn’t seem to work properly which meant I dropped right back down the order. Not a good start to the weekend, but then I saw something which cheered me up, something which I had never seen before. Waiting outside the back of the garage were three people wearing t-shirts with my helmet and my name on, and with a huge St Georges flag with ‘GO PIPPA’ written across it! Carried by three of the first people to join my fan club, I came face to face for the first time in my life with a flag cheering me on! It was the most amazing surprise to find them with their own t-shirts and flag!
Next we had the pit walk-about. P1 Motorsport is the current top team and are therefore based at the far end of the pitlane. When people first filtered in we were all joking about whether anyone would ever actually find us down at that end, but slowly however the crowds did drift down to our end of the garages, along with the huge flag, and our pit garage suddenly got busy. I even got into trouble with the marshals for still trying to sign things for people while they were trying to end the pit-walkabout. I just didn’t have enough time to get one for everyone, so if you are of the people who missed out I apologise!
After the race on Saturday, despite the fact it was a difficult race where I didn’t feel much progress had been made, people who had been standing at the first corner of the circuit where I made my sole overtaking move of the race kept coming to find me, asking me sign things and shaking my hand. As a racing driver I set such high standards for myself it’s sometimes strange to remember that to other people watching on, even when I feel disappointed, to them I’ve still done a good job.
Saturday evening was spent with my PR girl preparing the hospitality awning off the side of the P1 Motorsport truck, getting it ready for the 60 odd guests who were coming the next day. Television screens were put up for them to watch the races on, pictures of myself and Giedo were blown up and put on the awning walls, tables were table-clothed and set with chairs and flower arrangements. It all looked amazing, and like anyone hosting a party, you look at it and hope everything will go well, and everyone will turn up!
Sunday morning the first people to arrive were my sister and her family. My brother-in-law and my niece were the first people on Sunday morning seen to be wandering round in the ‘pippamann.com’ t-shirts and caps! However as more people arrived, everyone I turned I could see people wearing them. The sponsors arrived, and I was able to spend some time with them as well, before finally getting changed into my race suit, and getting ready for the pit-walkabout and race on Sunday.
Again if you were one of the people who missed me on Sunday I have to apologise. The pit-walk was at a difficult time, right as we are getting in the cars for the race, and although I spent the first 15 minutes signing autographs, I then had to start getting ready for the race. I do normally try and make myself as available as possible, but this was one of the few times where it was just impossible. I always feel bad when people ask me to sign things and I’m unable, but obviously the reason I am there for the weekend is to drive the car, so that has to be the part I focus on!
The race was another hard, long race with what felt like very little reward at the end of it. Nothing really went wrong, but when you start a long way down the order it’s always hard to make progress.
Luckily my sponsors also saw the World Series by Renault 3.5 live for the first time and were impressed with the speed and power of the cars, and told me they had a great time. Friends and family who had never seen me race live before also thought it was fantastic. As a racing driver you want to be winning, on the podium and scoring points all the time, and when you’re not you don’t sometimes realise that maybe you’re still actually not doing a bad job. Everyone who supported me at Silverstone made me realise that.
So thank you to everyone who came to meet me at Silverstone, and sat in the stands cheering me on, and also if you’re reading this, thank you for joining the fan club! Every single one of you is great, and I truly appreciated your enthusiasm and encouragement! Thank you so much, and I look forward to seeing you at another race sometime soon…
Yours Pippa