Second-Place Finish for Mann and Teammates at Barcelona 24H

Shift Up Now Athlete Pippa Mann made her return to European endurance racing at the 25th edition of the 2024 Hankook 24H Barcelona at Circuit de Catalunya on September 13-15, 2024.

Mann competed in a BMW M4 GT4 for ST Racing (STR) alongside teammates Samantha Tan, Neil Verhagen, Jon Miller, and Fabian Duffieux.

Testing on the 2.894-mile, 16-turn race track took place on Wednesday and Thursday.

Track conditions on Wednesday were warm and sunny. The STR team learned quickly that managing tire wear on the abrasive surface would be crucial for the race, as lap times dropped as much as four to five seconds over the course of a practice stint. Therefore, the team’s immediate focus switched to finding a setup that would best protect the tires.

Thursday’s test sessions were overcast, and while the car felt better than the prior day, the belief was that cooler track temps were a contributing factor, so the team continued to spend all the available track time working to improve their race car.

Friday marked the first official practice, followed by qualifying and then another practice in the evening. During the first practice, STR elected to do a qualifying simulation. Tan, Duffieux, and Mann were chosen as the qualifying drivers. Unfortunately, red flags interfered with two of the runs, so the team focused forward on the upcoming qualifying session.

The first two 15-minute qualifying sessions were green, and both Tan and Duffieux set their personal-best times of the weekend. During Mann’s session, a red flag brought the field back to pit lane. However, despite the shortened session, she set a time fast enough for the average fastest time of the 3 drivers to secure a second-place qualifying position in the GT4 class.

The evening practice that followed was Mann’s first time driving Circuit de Catalunya at night. She set four timed laps on Hankook tires while working on finding her references for the race. At the end of the session, Verhagen’s time put the team in P1.

The 2024 Hankook 24H Barcelona began at noon local time on Saturday. Verhagen was behind the wheel for the first stint. Knowing that managing both traffic and tires were the primary objectives, he settled into a fast, smooth pace. He maintained the team’s second-place spot before handing the car over to Tan, who then took the lead of the class. Duffieux was up next, and extended the in-class lead.

When Mann took the wheel, she added a lap to their total lead. However, as the team prepared for the next driver change, the BMW M4 GT4 began to suffer from loss of power and AC failure. While it wasn’t enough to take STR out of its three-lap lead with Tan behind the
wheel, Duffieux was next in the car and saw the issues worsen during his stint.

In order to investigate while not losing overall time, STR elected to do an early brake change, believing that the new brakes would last for the remaining 16 hours.

The team identified an intercooler leak issue, in which a small rock had pierced one of the radiators. The Bas Koeten Racing team, which runs the car for STR in Europe, worked quickly to get the M4 GT4 back on track.

With only minimal laps lost, Mann took the wheel once again in fifth place, and three laps behind a podium spot. Night had set in and her previous practice time proved invaluable, allowing her to get up to speed immediately. The car was marginally down on power and
running without AC, and while the team had mitigated the leak to a large extent they were still stuck making slightly longer pit stops in order to top off the intercooler each time the car came in for fuel.

Miller took the wheel next, then Verhagen. Both helped the team make gains in the overall order as they drove through the night. By the time dawn broke around 7am local time, STR’s strategy around Code 60s and driver order had them back in the hunt for the lead, with Duffieux making the move that put them back in front once more.

Tan took the wheel, then Mann with just under three hours to go. The British driver was able to extend the lead by putting them one lap up on the second-place car during her stint.

With one hour left in the race, Tan took over for the final stint. After she left the pits, a fuel pressure alarm appeared. When the car self-selected seventh gear and limp mode, she was forced to pull over and come to a complete stop to power-cycle the car.

Once restarted, Tan ran an excellent pace for the next four to five laps, maintaining the gap ahead of the second-place car. But bad luck struck again when the pressure alarm signaled once more and she had to pull over and repeat the restart process.

Tan managed to maintain the lead, but was passed when the alarm incredibly reappeared for the third time. Determined not to give up, she ran underneath the wing of the new leader lap after lap, but the loss of power from the intercooler issue caused a lack of speed, which made passing tough.

Nevertheless, Tan persisted and continued to put pressure on the car ahead. At a restart following a Code 60, she nearly made a move stick to take back the lead. But it wasn’t meant to be and the STR team crossed the finish line one second behind the race winner in the GT4 class.

“Sometimes a second-place finish feels like you’ve won the race, and sometimes it’s just heartbreaking,” said Mann. “We did everything humanly possible to try to win this race for STR and BMW, but it just wasn’t our day. On the positive side, we can all be very proud of our performance. The entire Bas Koeten team running the car for STR was incredible, our pit-stops were consistently good, and all of the drivers gave it everything they had.

“Personally, I’m just so grateful to have had this opportunity to join Samantha Tan Racing for this event. Having four fast teammates, all of whom were focused on one goal, was a very cool experience. And joining a team of this caliber for an event like this was truly a ‘pinch me’ moment. I want to send a massive thank you to Jon Lee Miller, and to Sam and Ken Tan, for inviting and welcoming me to this team for this event.”

 

Pippa Mann Confirmed for 24H Barcelona with ST Racing

Shift Up Now Athlete Pippa Mann will make her return to European endurance racing at the 25th edition of the 2024 Hankook 24H Barcelona on September 13-15, 2024.

Mann will drive for ST Racing alongside teammates Samantha Tan, Neil Verhagen, Jon Miller and Fabian Duffieux. Tan co-owns the race team with her father, Kenneth. The duo, along with BMW works driver Verhagen, will continue their partnership for the entry with Miller, STR38 Motorsport team manager and driver. Duffieux, an up-and-coming GT4 driver, completes the lineup.

Mann will be looking to follow up her team’s podium finish in the 2024 Ravenol ADAC 24 Hour race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife on June 1, 2024.

The British driver won in the SP8T GT4 class in the NLS race at Nurburgring in 2021, and set the fastest lap in class there in 2023. This year, she returned to the podium with her “Girls Only” teammates in a BMW M4 GT4. She has seen success in a variety of sports car events and series across North America, including wins and podiums with clients in endurance races, and ProAm podiums in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

Mann is also a former race winner in Indy Lights (currently known as Indy NXT), and a seven- time Indianapolis 500 competitor, racing in the iconic race from 2011-2019. She became only the eighth female (of nine to date) to qualify for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

“I’ve been following Sam’s career, and the STR team she has built from afar for years,” said Mann. “I met Sam briefly on the grid at the Nurburgring 24 hour race a couple of years ago, so I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to join her team for the upcoming Barcelona 24 hour race this September. The BMW M4 GT4 platform is one I’m familiar with from racing at the Nordschleife with the Girls Only team, and I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to work with them as we try to defend their race win from 2021.”

ST Racing contested its first full endurance-racing program in the 24H Series in 2021, securing both the Overall GT Teams’ championship and the Overall GT Drivers’ titles. This year’s event will mark the team’s third race at Barcelona, and they will aim to defend their 2021 GT4 class victory.

The 24H Barcelona weekend begins with two track days on September 11-12, 2024. Practice and qualifying will take place on Friday, September 13th, followed by the start of the race on Saturday, September 14th. Following the 24H Barcelona race, ST Racing brings its GTWC America season to a close at the Indianapolis 8 Hours on October 4-6, 2024.

Podium Finish for Pippa in Weather-Shortened 24 Hour Race at Nurburgring

Shift Up Now Athlete Pippa Mann, along with her “Girls Only” teammates Carrie Schreiner, Beitske Visser and Fabienne Wohlwend - earned a third-place finish in the 2024 Ravenol ADAC 24 Hour race, affected by rain and fog at the Nurburgring Nordschleife on June 1, 2024.

Driving the Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4 in the SP8T class, the Girls Only team had three qualifying sessions on Thursday and Friday. The fastest time from each session would set the grid for the race, with any penalties carrying over to the start as well. Weather conditions confirmed the race track’s famous nickname, “The Green Hell,” as rain and fog hovered over the Ring all weekend.

Track activity began on Thursday afternoon with the first hour-and-45-minute session. Despite starting wet, it wasn’t quite wet enough for wet tires, which made the track extremely slippery on slick tires. There was a dry period mid-session, and although Mann and her teammates had to contend with code 60 and code 120 slow zones on the track, that’s when they set their best lap time. The team was able to run some dry laps but not without slow zones, then heavy rain fell toward the end of the session.

Later that evening, session two started dry with just a slight mist in the air, but a slow zone on track was called almost immediately. Mann, who was competing in this event for the fourth time, was the second driver in the car at dusk on a dry track, but had a lengthy code 60 zone during her stint. Once it was dark, all of the Girls Only drivers cycled through behind the wheel, but still didn’t get one lap without slow zones active on the race track as they worked to dial in the handling of their Giti Tire M4 GT4 race car.

Mann has described driving the Nordschleife at night like “driving down the darkest country lane you’ve ever been down, with armco barriers on either side.” Given she had not driven there at night since 2021, the British driver was given three night laps during the night qualifying session to get more comfortable with the Nordschleife after dark before this year's race.

Session three was the shortest of the sessions and took place on a dry track Friday morning. After only a couple laps, technical issues forced the team back to the garage. They worked tirelessly to diagnose and resolve the issues with the help of the BMW support technicians, but were unable to get back on track to improve their lap time.

Saturday morning brought a mostly-dry race track for the warm-up session. The Girls Only team was aiming to test the previous day’s changes. Ultimately, they decided their race car was getting closer, but they would make more changes ahead of the race to continue dialing in the car, and to optimize performance of their package.

The 2024 Ravenol ADAC 24 Hour race began on Saturday at 4pm. On the grid, the race track was dry, but the radar showed incoming rain, and teams were split as to whether to start the race on slick tires, cute slick tires, or wet tires. The Girl's Only team opted to follow the radar, and sent Wolhwend onto the formation lap on wet Giti Tires, hoping it was the right call.

As expected rain did start to fall on the formation lap, and as the 3 starting groups came to the green flag, cars starting on slick tires, and cut slick tires ducked to pit-lane to immediately change their tires, along with cars serving penalties from the qualifying sessions.

For the Girls Only team, it was a clean start through turn one, the first loop of the GP track and onto the Nordschleife.

After two laps, they had moved up to P3 in class. Then after four laps, a dry line began to emerge on the track. Visser was slated to be next behind the wheel, and the team tried to push to six laps before the stop while the rain tires continued to go away, so as not to get too far out of sequence, or have to make additional stops later in the race.

The team cycled back to P5 during the pit stop when cars that had served early penalties were able to run longer in their first stints. Visser drove a solid second stint, then Schreiner took the wheel for the third, advancing the team back to P3 and maintaining it through the next pit stop cycle.

Various incidents caused significant code 60 and code 120 zones, but the track continued to dry up. Mann took the fourth stint around 7:30pm. The track was dry for the first three laps before she encountered heavy rainfall on portions of the track. Unfortunately, at least half of the Nordschleife stayed dry, which meant Mann had to stay out on slicks, making for difficult handling.

Nonetheless, Mann held onto the P3 spot in class, then handed the car to Wohlwend for her first double stint of the race as the sun set, and darkness drew in. She went out on wets but this proved tough to handle on the dry half of the race track. Despite the struggle, Wohlwend extended the team’s lead over the P4 car significantly.

Visser was back in the car 11pm for her first double stint. Fog started to set in, which eventually red-flagged the race just before midnight. Race control indicated that the next update would come at 7am, at which time the thick fog still loomed overhead, delaying the competition one hour at a time.

Finally at 9:30am, cars were called back to the grid, but the fog was still too thick to start the race. Race control indicated a restart at 1:30pm, but with five laps behind the pace car as the fog was still too patchy for safe racing conditions. Finally at 3:00pm - one hour ahead of schedule - the race was called, giving the Girls Only team a P3 podium finish in class.

"It’s a super-weird feeling for the race to never truly go green again after we were red-flagged last night for fog, and it feels pretty anti-climatic,” said Mann. “However, we have to remember that having ‘Eifel Wetter’ interfere with this race is a very normal part of racing here. It’s why this place earned it's nickname of the Green Hell.

“During the first half of the race, in all of those half-wet and half-dry stints, we drove our tails off. Our Girls Only team had super-clean pit stops, and the conditions were a massive challenge for us, and all of the competitors. We also rose to that challenge, moving up in our class, not making mistakes, and doing our best to make the right tire calls, and manage whatever tires we had on the car in whatever conditions then presented themselves.

“When we look at how we drove before the race was red-flagged, and the decisions we made as a team, we earned this third-place finish today.

“I’m very grateful to the team for inviting me back for my fourth 24 Hours with them, and I love that we have four fast drivers on our team. And anyone can be fastest if they are given that golden clean lap by the gods of The Ring. However I have to admit, how our race ended this year has already left me hungry for 2025. Despite everything ‘Die Grune Holle’ threw at us this year, I can’t wait to be back for another shot.”

Next up, Mann is slated to return to the United States and continue her racing season with clients in International GT (IGT) and the World Racing League (WRL).

Pair of P2 Podium Finishes for Mann at Nordschleife

Shift Up Now Athlete Pippa Mann and her WS Racing Girls Only teammates earned back-to-back second-place finishes for rounds one and two of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) Championship at the Nurburgring Nordschleife on April 5-7, 2024.

Mann piloted the No. 146 Giti Tire BMW GT4, supported by ZF Motorsport and Motul Germany, alongside teammates Beitske Visser (driving Saturday and Sunday), Carrie Schreiner (Saturday), and Fabienne Wohlwend (Sunday). In addition to the driver lineup, the Girls Only team featured a crew of all-female mechanics and engineers.

Testing took place on Friday afternoon. The team’s goal was to get all four drivers on track during the 4.5-hour session on the 24.36-km NLS track layout. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mann was unable to turn laps, but her teammates worked to dial in the handling of the car, looking for both single-lap pace and full-stint performance.

Saturday morning’s qualifying session was damp and cold. After Visser turned one exploratory lap at the start of the session, the team determined the track conditions were still too wet for slicks, and they decided to wait for ten minutes for the grip to improve. Mann was next in the car, and hit the track for her first laps of the weekend. Despite several areas of the track still being wet, she ran lap times that put the team third in their SP8T class, and just below halfway in the GT4 field. After teammates Schreiner and Visser took the wheel, Visser qualified the Girls Only team third for the start of Saturday’s race on the drying race track. 

Race one, began at noon on Saturday, featuring a 110-car field with 15 GT4 cars and five in the SP8T class. Visser was behind the wheel first for the four-hour endurance race. She drove a strong first stint, however a fueling issue caused the team to pit slightly earlier than planned.

Mann took the wheel next for her first dry laps of the weekend on the famous “Green Hell” track. Because the team was off-sequence from the early pit stop, Mann had to re-pass several slower GT4 cars that had not stopped yet, and continued to advance through the field.

Due to an abundance of incidents, causing “slow zones” around the race track, she wasn’t able to drive a single full-green lap, however her pace looked good in the green sectors. Halfway through her stint, while slowing for a “Code 120 slow zone,” she was hit from behind, causing damage to the rear of the car, but not affecting her pace.

After Mann, Schreiner was next in the car to drive a double stint to finish the race. However the damage to the exhaust from the impact sustained in Mann’s stint caused an over-heating gearbox, and the team had to make an additional pit stop to address the issue.

Once she re-joined the race, despite being several minutes back, Schreiner started the charge to chase down P3. When a lead car suffered a tire puncture, the Girls Only team set their sights on P2. An error from the second placed car - speeding in one of the slow zones while under pressure from the closing Schreiner - promoted Mann’s team to second-in-class, and P9 overall in the GT4 class. Overall, they were happy with the pace but looking to dial in the handling on their Giti tires for a faster pace the following day.

Qualifying for race two took place on Sunday morning. Once again, Visser was first on track for a two-lap run, and set a qualifying time that was second-in-class and seventh overall. Mann took the wheel next and in one flying, sub-nine-minute lap, ran two seconds off the best time in her first full green flag lap of the weekend. Wohlwend was the final driver behind the wheel, but a brake-line issue meant she was unable to set a qualifying time.

Race two began at noon on Sunday. Wohlwend drove a strong first stint for the four-hour competition, moving the team up to P2 in class, and P2 overall in the GT4 field. Several GT4 cars - including the P1 competitor - pitted off-sequence, putting them on a different strategy than the Girls Only team.

Mann took the wheel next and caught the leader halfway through her stint. She stayed in its mirrors and forced an error, turning it into an over-under pass at Hohe Acht. The move temporarily advanced Mann’s team to the lead of the SP8T class, which she held through the duration of her stint.

Visser drove the final stint. After fueling during the team’s last scheduled stop, they were forced to hold in pit lane for 15 seconds to meet the minimum pit stop time for the race. Nevertheless, Visser left pit lane in P1.

Unfortunately, a puncture from morning qualifying left the team without a set of new tires, so Visser was left to compete on battle-worn tires without much grip. With two laps to go, the second-place car passed her, putting the Girls Only car P2 in the SP8T class, and P4 overall in GT4 at the checkered flag.

“This was a strong weekend to build on as we prepare for this year’s twenty-four hour race,” said Mann. “Our girls were fantastic at the pit stops. Having to wait through the fifteen seconds of the last pit stop was agonizing, but having that margin left to meet our minimum pit stop time shows how flawless our mechanics were.

“Our Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4 was fast this weekend. We still have a little pace to find as we continue to dial in the car setup for the tires and the ZF Motorsport damping. But all four drivers ran within five seconds of each other on the nine-minute lap, so we should be a strong team in June when we race for twenty-four hours. Personally, I’m very happy to have had this opportunity to get the seat time ahead of that race.

“I want to thank the team, my teammates, and all our sponsors for having me drive both days this weekend. It will be a big help to come back in June with this many laps already under my belt this season. And as for today, while we might have been on different strategies, getting to make a pass for the lead in class, and then stay there with the fastest GT4 car on track this weekend breathing down my neck for the rest of the stint was definitely my kind of fun!”

Visser, Schreiner and Wohlwend will return to Nordschleife next weekend for the 24h Qualifying Race. Mann will rejoin the Girls Only team for the 2024 ADAC Total Energies 24 Hour Race at the Nurburgring on June 1-2, 2024.

Pippa Mann Returns to Nurburgring in 2024 with Girls Only Team

For the fourth consecutive year, Pippa Mann will compete with the Girls Only WS Racing program in the Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4. She’ll return to Germany for the 52nd running of the ADAC Total Energies 24 Hour race at the Nurburgring from June 1-2, 2024.

Originally opened in 1927, and nicknamed “The Green Hell,” the 150-turn Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit winds its way through the forests and hills in the Eifel region of Germany.   The first 24-hour race was held at “The Ring” in 1970, and it has since become known as one of the most challenging 24-hour races of the season.

Following a podium finish there in 2022, Mann and her teammates set the fast time in their SP8-T class early on in 2023. However, misfortune in the overnight hours led to the team losing a several-lap lead and being taken out of contention for the win. After hours of work, the car did return to finish the race, with the British racer setting a new fastest lap for the team and the class during the final stint to the checkered flag.

Leading up to the main event for the 2024 season, on April 6, Mann will compete at one of three NLS races that comprise the full-season Championship for Girls Only and the WS Racing teams. Mann will again compete alongside Beitske Visser, though their other teammates for NL2, and the 24 hour race have yet to be announced.

Mann is a seven-time Indianapolis 500 competitor, and a race winning coach and co-driver with clients in various sports car series across the US. When competing in Germany, Mann’s signature pink helmet will once again feature the blue “S” representing Shift Up Now, an organization Mann took over in 2020. As the CEO, she and her team are focused on the mission of providing more opportunity and funding for talented female racers.

The Girls Only team, founded and led by Nicole Willems within WS Racing, is also on a mission to prove that, with equal opportunity, men and women can perform and compete as equals at the highest levels of motorsport.

“I’m thrilled to be returning to the Girls Only team by WS Racing for my fourth 24 Hour race at the Ring this June,” said Mann. “This event has quickly become the highlight of my racing season each year, and I can’t thank Nicole Willems, the WS team, Giti Tire, and all their sponsors enough for inviting me back to be part of the program for another year.

“Last year, we had an amazing race car. Our Giti Tires BMW M4 GT4 was on rails, but lady luck was not on our side. This year, our goal is to show up just as fast, and see if we can bring home the win."

Practice and qualifying for the 24-hour race begin on Thursday, June 29, 2024.

 

 

 

 

Shift Up Now Foundation and Lucas Oil Launch “40 for 40 Campaign”

Indianapolis, IN - July 31, 2023 - The Shift Up Now Foundation is excited to announce the launch of its “40 for 40 Campaign,” aimed at raising $40,000 over 40 days, in celebration of Pippa Mann’s 40th birthday on August 11, 2023.

Mann is a trailblazer for gender equality in motorsports. In addition to seven starts at the Indianapolis 500 and winning an Indy Lights race, she was the first female to score points in the World Series by Renault and the first female to run a 230+ mph lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She has competed three times at the 24 Hour Nurburgring, with a win in class.

The British racer took over as CEO of Shift Up Now in 2020, when founder Lynn Kehoe was ready to give the wheel to a new generation of racers. With a goal of taking the organization to the next level, the 501c3 foundation was added in 2023 to live alongside the not-for-profit business.

As Shift Up Now continues to strive for gender equality for female athletes in motorsport, the foundation furthers the mission by accepting tax-deductible gifts, donations and grants. Funds raised from donations are used to award opportunities to racers believed to have the talent and aptitude to succeed in motorsports. This allows these racers access to more competitive equipment, seat time for testing and practice, and resources to help grow their careers.

To join the campaign, race fans and Shift Up Now supporters are invited to make a donation - in $40 increments - from August 1st through September 9th.

When leaders at Lucas Oil heard about the campaign, they got behind the cause as well. The company has been a long-time supporter of talented female athletes in motorsport, including Shift Up Now Athletes Shea Holbrook and Michele Abbate.

Lucas Oil has offered to match the first $5,000 in donations to advance the campaign to its first $10,000.

“I’m thrilled to use my birthday as the kick-off for our first Shift Up Now Foundation fundraising campaign,” said Mann. “I spent years at the Indy 500 competing on small budgets, and the more women I connect with in the motorsports industry, the more I realized that it was time to step up and work to help drive change. I’m passionate about our mission to fund talented female athletes in motorsport, and I’m thrilled that our first fundraising campaign should allow us to write our first sponsorship grants this fall.

“To have Lucas Oil matching the first $5,000 - and becoming the first corporate donor - as we kick off this first campaign is amazing. I want to personally thank Katie Lucas, and Lucas Oil, and I can’t wait to get this campaign started tomorrow on August 1st.”

“We are delighted to be able to support talented female athletes in motorsport like Pippa Mann and the new generation of racers backed by the Shift Up Now Foundation,” said Katie Lucas, Chief Administrative Officer at Lucas Oil. “The campaign aligns with Lucas Oil's deep- rooted commitment to supporting motorsports, which has been such an integral part of our company's history, and Pippa's remarkable journey in advancing gender equality in motorsports is truly inspiring. We feel privileged to contribute to such a meaningful cause and believe in the organization’s mission to provide opportunities and make a lasting impact in the lives of aspiring female racers. We can't wait to kick off this campaign!”

Donations can be made to the Shift Up Now Foundation Inc via the “make a gift” page of the website, www.shiftupnow.com. To pay via check, please contact us at info@shiftupnow.com.

—-

About Shift Up Now

Founded in 2016 by Lynn Kehoe, Shift Up Now is a collective of female racers working together to provide more opportunity for the industry’s trailblazers. After relaunching in 2020, Shift Up Now operates through a membership format to unite racers and race fans in their support of the mission. Members have access to fan forums, webinars, driver meet-and-greets, garage tours and premiere access to limited-edition merchandise. The organization is currently managed by Pippa Mann, Erin Vogel and Shea Holbrook.

About Lucas Oil

Founded in 1989 by Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, Lucas Oil Products was created with the simple philosophy of producing the best lubricants and additives available anywhere. Lucas Oil offers the most diversified range of innovative engine oil, gear oil and additive products refined by years of specialized research, development and testing. The company’s high performance engine oils and gear oils are widely recognized as best-in-class in the automotive, powersports, marine, industrial, outdoor, and motorsports marketplaces. In total, Lucas Oil boasts more than 300 premium products, representing the largest variety of shelf products of any oil company in the United States with a distribution network across 48 different countries.

Lucas Oil’s commitment to motorsports includes long standing support for high profile regional and national racing series, and the distribution of exclusive motorsports content from across the globe via MAVTV, a Lucas Oil owned and operated television network. The company also serves as the exclusive oil and lubricant partner of Monster Jam®, The Dallas Cowboys, the Indianapolis Colts and Lucas Oil Stadium. For more information please visit www.LucasOil.com.

Mann, Girls Only Team, Fight Through Adversity at ADAC Total 24 Hour Race

Shift Up Now Athlete Pippa Mann and her  WS Racing “Girls Only”  teammates Celia Martin, Fabienne Wohlwend and Beitske Visser competed in the 51st running of the ADAC Total 24 Hour Race at the Nurburgring on May 21, 2023.

The event would mark Mann’s third year competing with the team in a GT4 car. After winning an NLS endurance series race in class as a warm-up race before the 24 Hour, and the qualifying race, the "Girls Only" team was ready for the 24 Hour race around the infamous, 15.7-mile Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit.

Mann and teammates had goals of winning their class, being in the top one-third of the entire GT4 field (including the SRO spec SP10 class) and in the top one-third of the 130 competitors overall.

On Thursday, practice and qualifying began under clear blue skies. Mann and Wohlwend would be the first drivers from the team to drive the Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4.

The teammates immediately set the bar for the pace in their class. Both had times fast enough for P1 over the nine-minute lap, and the sixth-fastest GT4 time from the session. This confirmed their intention of being able to compete with the SRO GT4 cars.

Night practice on Thursday evening was also dry, but with cold ambient and track temperatures. Martin was the first driver in the car and immediately matched her teammates’ pace from the earlier session. However, she had to pull off the track on her second lap. When the car wasn’t returned to the team until after the session, Visser was left without completing any laps since the qualifying race.

On Friday morning, the final practice and qualifying session was dry and sunny. Martin completed her mandatory two laps on the Nordschleife in qualifying. Then Visser drove the rest of the session, taking her first laps of the event, and completing her mandatory laps. For the third consecutive session, the Giti Tire “Girls Only” BMW M4 GT4 was the fastest car in the SP8T class.

When the pre-race warm-up session began on Saturday, Mann and Wohlwend had not driven since Thursday. So the team decided to bed one more set of Endless brake pads, and give both drivers one more lap before the race. The session passed without incident, and marked the fourth session where the team was at the top of the timesheets.

Unfortunately, instead of taking their starting-grid position based on lap time, a penalty meant that they would have to start at the back of the second run group. Visser was the starting driver and set first-stint goals of getting to the lead in the class, and through traffic into the SRO GT4 cars.

On Saturday afternoon, the green flag flew at 4:00pm Central European time under warm sunshine. Visser immediately got to work and went to the lead of the class by the end of the first lap. She then made steady progress forward through traffic while setting fast times.

However, it became clear early on that there was an unprecedented issue with the car’s transponder. The GPS was functioning and recording lap times, however the transponder issue was interfering with timing and scoring data. As a result, Visser’s car position was fluctuating wildly on timing and scoring screens as the transponder failed.

With a goal of not losing laps or taking the car to the garage, the team tried to fix the issue during the first pit stop, as Visser handed the wheel over to Wohlwend. However, once Wohlwend was back on track, it became clear a new transponder would have to be fitted to the car during the second pit stop.

While the timing and scoring continued to fluctuate, Wohlwend continued picking off cars and moving up the field. On lap six of her seven-lap stint, the car suffered a puncture from debris on the track, but she managed to make it back to the pits without further damage.

Martin was behind the wheel for the third stint of the race. When she left the pit box, the team was two laps down on the GT4 leaders, and the leaders in class, due to the transponder issues. The new transponder started working reliably and Martin was a woman on a mission. She ran the fastest time for the car so far in the race, and moved herself up the overall field as the laps ticked by.

Mann was the fourth driver into the car, driving the sunset stint. She picked up where her teammates left off. Her continued fast times moved the Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4 up the order.

As night fell and the temperatures cooled, the team moved to double stints, giving rest between stints to the drivers not in the car. In the dark and difficult conditions, the team continued their climb, taking back the lead in the class. They climbed back into the top 10 overall of all the GT4 cars, and inside the top 60 of the 135 race starters.

One hour before dawn, a slower-class car made a mistake while being lapped and hit the rear corner of the Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4. Onboard video showed there was nothing Martin could’ve done and the contact was hard enough to break the rear axle. It appeared that the severity of the damage, and time needed to make the repair, meant the team was likely out of the race.

However the WS Racing “Girls Only” team and management decided that, even though they would be many laps down and out of contention, they wanted to get the car back on track. In addition, they wanted to make sure they took enough laps, compared to the overall GT3 leaders, to be classified in the results.

The mechanics worked tirelessly after 13 hours of racing and 24 hours of being awake. Right around 10:00am local time, the car rejoined the race. Visser, as the most rested driver, was back behind the wheel. As a thank you to the team, she immediately set the fastest lap of the race for the car so far, then handed the wheel to Wolhwend, and then Martin.

Mann was back in the Giti Tire BMW M4 GT4 for a double stint to finish the race. After the pit stop in her second stint, Mann had what she described as “the luckiest lap I’ve ever had with traffic at the Ring.”

She set the new, fastest lap for the team by a couple of tenths from Visser, giving the the girls the sixth-fastest GT4 lap time in the race. She then slowed her pace to run with team’s sister BMW M4 GT4. The two cars also found one of the team’s other cars to set up a checkered-flag photograph, showcasing three of the 2023 Giti Tire WS Racing entries coming across the line together.

“We got so unlucky this weekend at times we couldn’t believe it,” said Mann. “But the determination and resilience of this team, and our girls was incredible. We were so fast all weekend, and to have all four drivers within two seconds on a nine-minute lap is incredible.

“Our engineer Tamires Lustosa gave us a strong car, and we were not only fastest in SP8T in every session, but also able to compete with the front portion of the SRO GT4 cars in SP10. We may not have gotten the reward we wanted in terms of the race result, but ultimately we executed another strong race, despite the adversity, and we showed our pace and potential every single session the car was on track.

"I want to thank Giti Tires, WS Racing, and Thorsten and Nicole Willems for inviting me back again this year, and also Bell Techlogix for their partnership with Shift Up Now which helped me cover the cost of travel to compete here. This event has quickly become one of my favorite races, and for me it ranks up there with the years I got to compete at the Indy 500.”

Mann will be returning to American soil this week. Alongside Loni Unser, she’ll be hosting guests from Bell Techlogix at the 2023 Indianapolis 500 this weekend.

The 52nd running of the ADAC Total 24 Hour Race is scheduled for May 9-12, 2024.

Victory for Mann, Teammates, "Girls Only" Team at the Nurburgring

Shift Up Now Athlete Pippa Mann, along with teammates Celia Martin and Carrie Schreiner, won in the SP8T GT4 class - and finished 4th overall out of the 14 GT4 cars entered - on Saturday, April 1, 2023 at the Nurburgring.

The trio, along with their all-female team of mechanics, engineers and crew, brought home the first win of the season in the Giti Tires “Girls Only” BMW M4 GT4. 

The race was the second round of the German NLS series, which takes place on the Nurburgring Nordschleife race track, on a slightly shorter loop than the ADAC Total 24 Hour race. The four-hour endurance race on the 24.4km course featured 132 cars entered across various classes. These included GT3 cars, Porsche Cup cars, touring cars and 14 GT4 cars split across the two GT4 classes that run at the Nurburgring for the NLS events, and the ADAC Total 24 Hour race.

Practice for the event on Friday featured the region's notorious “Eifel Weather,” a mix of fog and rain that gives the Nordschleife it’s nickname, “The Green Hell.”

During those conditions on Friday, Mann, Martin and Schreiner focused on turning as many laps as possible and getting comfortable in the team's new BMW M4 GT4 on the wet racetrack. 

Mann was second in the car, turning three laps on the Giti Tires wet-weather tire. She then returned for another run later in the session as the track started to dry. Mann made it through two third of a lap on the Nordschleife before heavy rain aborted the run.

Qualifying on Saturday morning featured similar conditions as all three drivers took to the track. Martin was the last driver in the car, setting the fast time and qualifying the team in the middle of the GT4 field.

As the noon race start time drew near, the forecasted heavy rain never came and the track continued to dry. Martin was the starting driver, and made the brave, but ultimately correct decision to start the race on “cut slick tires” instead of wet-weather tires. As the green flag dropped, she took the car to P1 in the class. During the first stint of the race, she was P2 overall of the GT4 cars.

Outside of the racing line, the racetrack was greasy and slippery. Several accidents caused various areas of the race track to be under speed-limited conditions. In these areas, drivers were not to exceed specific kph and were not allowed to overtake another vehicle. A mistake in one of these zones cost the team some time when they were forced to serve a 45-second penalty.

Mann was the final driver in the Giti Tires BMW M4 GT4, running the 90 minutes to the end of the race. The entire field stayed on slick tires throughout, despite several small showers on parts of the race track, and occasional sleet. Mann set the second fastest lap of the race for the team, and brought the car home with the first win of the season.

“I’m so thankful to WS Racing and Giti Tire for allowing me to come over for this race as a warm-up for the 24 Hour Race this May,” said Mann. “I also want to thank Bell Techlogix for their support of Shift Up Now, which helps pay for my travel for these events.

“The mixed conditions this weekend threw a lot at me, but I’m so much better prepared for the 24 Hour Race now, having gotten to compete this weekend in NLS2. The new BMW M4 GT4 is by far my favorite GT4 car I’ve ever driven, and I’m pretty pleased with getting below the nine-minute mark on this layout in the race today. I can’t wait to come back and do this again in May.”

Qualifying for this year’s ADAC Total 24 Hour Race will take place on May 18-19, 2023, followed by the race on the 25.3km track layout on May 20-21, 2023.

Pippa Mann returns to Nurburgring in 2023 with WS Racing

For the third consecutive year, Pippa Mann will compete in the Girls Only program with WS Racing on the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit on May 20-21, 2023.

In 2022, the team completed a successful ADAC Total Energies 24 Hour race, culminating in a podium finish. As a result, WS Racing announced an unchanged lineup for the 2023 race on the infamous, 20.8k German track.

Mann is a seven-time Indianapolis 500 competitor, and a race winning coach and co- driver with clients in various sports car series across America. In 2023, she will be returning to both the International GT Championship, and to the FARA Racing USA Championship.

WS Racing, founded and led by Nicole Willems, is on also a mission to prove that with equal opportunity, men and women can perform and compete as equals at the highest levels of motorsport.

This will mark the second year that Mann teams up with Carrie Schreiner, Celia Martin and Fabienne Wohlwend. The all-female Girls Only driving lineup will be competing with a brand new BMW M4 GT4, with continued sponsorship from Giti Tire.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the Ring again for the third year running,” said Mann. “I can’t wait to see my team-mates again, and I’m so excited to get behind the wheel of the brand new BMW M4 GT4!”

“I want to thank the team, and all of their partners for welcoming me back for another year. And Bell Techlogix for their support of Shift Up Now, which is once again covering my travel costs to allow me to travel to Germany to compete, and be part of this amazing program.”

"We are very happy that Pippa completes our line up again this season and supports us with her experience and speed," said Nicole Willems. "Our goal is to continue the success of the past years. Pippa fits perfectly to our team and our visions."

Originally opened in 1927, and nicknamed “The Green Hell,” the 70-turn Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit winds its way through the forests and hills in the Eifel region of Germany.

Mann will be joining the WS Racing / Girls Only squad for one of the three warm-up races. She’ll then return to Germany for the 51st edition of the ADAC Total Energies 24 Hour race in May. Practice and qualifying begins on Thursday May 18, 2023.

Third-Place Finish for Mann and ‘Girls Only’ Team at Nurburgring 24 Hours

Pippa Mann and her WS Racing ‘Girls Only’ Giti Tire team earned a third-place finish in their class on Sunday, May 29, 2022 in the ADAC Total Energies 24 Hour race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. 

Driving a BMW M4 GT4, Mann and teammates Carrie Schreiner, Fabienne Wohlwend and Celia Martin, the event schedule meant there were no practice sessions outside of the official qualifying sessions to set the grid.

The weather was sunny and dry for the first, 90-minute qualifying session on Thursday morning, however the team encountered an electronic fuel pump issue, and were unable to run laps. The second session was three hours in length on Thursday evening, into the night and track conditions cooled considerably as the sun set. All drivers completed two laps while it was still light out, then one once darkness fell.

For Mann, these laps were her first on the Nordschleife in 2022, her first ever in the BMW M4 GT4 and after the red flag stoppage for fog overnight in 2021, her first ever lap on the track in complete darkness.

After using the final short 45 minute qualifying session on Friday morning to bed in brakes for the race, Mann took 5 laps on the Nurburgring Grand Prix of the Nurburgring during morning warm-up on Saturday morning to continue to learn the car before the start of the race.

Saturday’s 24-hour race began at 4:00 p.m. and welcomed back fans for the first time since 2019. An estimated 250,000 race fans were in attendance around the 15.8-mile racetrack and more than 130 cars participated, including 38 GT3 cars.

It was dry and cool for the race start. Martin was behind the wheel first, starting from P4 in class. The formation lap left at 3.40 for the long lap around the Nordschleife before the green flag. Martin advanced to P3 during her stint and handed the wheel to Wohlwend for her seven-lap stint.

Mann took the wheel third for seven dry laps in the daylight. Then Schreiner was the first to drive a double stint just before nightfall, followed by double stints from Martin, Wohlwend and Mann, running flawless laps and carrying them through the night. As dawn broke, the WS ‘Girls Only’ Giti Tire team was running second in their class, but dropped back to third once the sun rose, and their closest competitors found their pace again in the day-light.

With approximately four hours to go, as the “Eiffel weather” the region is known for started to play a part in the race. Conditions were extremely wet in parts of the race track, almost dry in others, and constantly changing with the rain fall moving weather across different areas of the race track at different times. Mann and Schreiner handled the two difficult stints of the race with the constantly changing conditions on slicks, and “cut slick” tires, and kept the car in third place, with no mistakes, for Martin to take over for the final stint. 

The team took the checkered flag in third place in their class, and 35th overall.

“I was thrilled to be asked to rejoin the WS Racing ‘Girls Only’ team for this event, and to have the opportunity to return to the Nordschleife for the 50th anniversary of their first 24 Hour race,” said Mann. “After the weather impacted the race so severely the past couple of years with long red flags, we were all hoping for a full 24 hour race this year, and our wish was granted.

“This is definitely a tough event to turn up to with no seat time at the track since the race the previous year, and no experience previously driving an M4 GT4, but the ‘Girls Only’ crew and engineering team worked with me to help me get comfortable in the car. Overall I’m very happy with how I drove in the race, especially in the extremely tricky wet/dry stint I had on Sunday. 

“The night laps here were also a real experience. This track is so very dark at night, and the headlights of the GT3 cars coming up fast are extreme. There was also a lot of code 60 and code 120 during my first stint at night, but during the second stint I was able to really find the rhythm and run comparable lap times to daylight." 

She added, “Overall, our entire driving lineup was strong and we all contributed to this result. The WS Racing ‘Girls Only’ pit crew was amazing. As a team, we ran a great 24 Hour race and maximized our result. We worked hard, made no mistakes and were rewarded with a result that we can be proud of.”

Mann plans to return to action on June 10-11, 2022 at the Daytona 14-Hour endurance race with TLM Racing in the World Racing League, driving the Monoflo Porsche Cayman GT4.