Pippa Mann Confirmed For Indianapolis 500 With Dale Coyne Racing

It has been officially confirmed that 29-year-old Briton Pippa Mann will compete during the Indianapolis 500 later this month with Dale Coyne Racing, which will see her start her second race around the legendary oval. Pippa Mann has competed in four IZOD IndyCar Series events, and became the first female Briton to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Pippa Mann made her debut at the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Conquest Racing, where she qualified 31st and finished 20th. Despite qualifying 27th at New Hampshire, Pippa Mann suffered an end-plate fracture during final practice and was forced to withdraw from the event. Although she bounced back at Kentucky with 22nd, she was involved in the multi-car incident at the season finale at Las Vegas which eventually took the life of Dan Wheldon and saw Pippa Mann suffer burns.

Throughout 2012, Pippa Mann was without a full-time drive. She competed in the Auto GP Series at Sonoma for Campos Racing and finished 9th and 8th respectively during the two races. The 29-year-old Briton is understandably thrilled with her return to the IZOD IndyCar Series this month, which will see her team-mate fellow countryman Justin Wilson and Brazilian female driver Ana Beatriz.

“I’m delighted to be able to share this news,” explained Pippa Mann. “I actually first met Dale [Coyne] several years ago, before I came to the U.S., at what turned out to be the final ChampCar test at Sebring right before the open-wheel merger. We’ve sort of had an on-going conversation ever since then, and I actually got very close to getting in one of Dale’s cars on Bump Day last year. A year later, we’ve now put this program together, and I cannot wait to be back on track with Honda and running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.”

Before making her debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2011, Pippa Mann enjoyed a highly competitive career in the Firestone Indy Lights category which saw her take her first pole around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and first victory at the Kentucky Speedway. Pippa Mann will begin her preparations for the Indianapolis 500 on May 11th during the first of six practice days.

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Ana Beatriz To Remain With Dale Coyne Racing Until Indianapolis 500

It has been announced that Brazilian female driver Ana Beatriz will remain with Dale Coyne Racing until the Indianapolis 500 next month, as the 25-year-old prepares for her 25th start this weekend at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama around the Barber Motorsports Park. She will continue to compete in the Honda-powered No. 18 machine alongside British driver Justin Wilson.

Ana Beatriz marked her return to the Series last time out around the streets of St. Petersburg, after competing in only two races during the 2012 season. Despite suffering a frustrating mechanical issue on Lap 55, the Brazilian driver will continue with Dale Coyne Racing for the next few races in the IZOD IndyCar Series. This weekend will be Ana Beatriz’s first race around the Barber Motorsports Park, despite contesting in a full season the Series back in 2011 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The Brazilian driver was forced to skip the race at Barber that season after sustaining a wrist injury at the opening race of the year at St. Petersburg.

“I am very excited to be back and race at Barber and Long Beach,” explained Ana Beatriz. “I didn’t think I would be back in a car until Brazil, but I want to thank Ipiranga and Dale [Coyne] for making it possible for me to drive full time through Indianapolis. We didn’t have the finish we would have liked to in St. Petersburg, but I am confident that we can get a better finish for the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda at Barber this weekend.”

After this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Ana Beatriz will compete in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, her home event around the streets of Sao Paulo in Brazil and the legendary Indianapolis 500. Her best result at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was 21st in both 2010 and 2011, a result she will undoubtedly be striving to emulate this year in the No. 18 machine.

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Dario Franchitti Takes Victory In Historic Indianapolis 500

Dario Franchitti has stormed to his third Indianapolis 500 victory, at the 96th running of the legendary event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was the first oval of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series, and the first since Dan Wheldon’s tragic death at Las Vegas last year. Franchitti’s team-mate Scott Dixon came home 2nd, with Tony Kanaan 3rd in an eventful and incident filled 200-lap race.

Ryan Briscoe had pole-position for the race, and when the green flag flew at the start James Hinchcliffe shot into the lead on the opening lap. In traditional oval racing style, the lead changed hands four times in the first 7 laps, before the first caution was brought out when rookie Bryan Clauson spun on lap 14. At the back of the pack, the two Lotus drivers’ of Simona de Silvestro and Jean Alesi were forced to retire after failing to meet the 105% rule.

As the field slowed down behind the safety car, the majority of the drivers’ peeled off into the pit-lane to complete their first stops. Dario Franchitti suffered a disastrous stop, as the Scot was tipped into a spin within the pits by E.J. Viso. On lap 19 the race was resumed, as many of the drivers suffered a slow restart whereas at the front Briscoe was in the lead.

The race ran relatively incident free for the next 60 laps, which forced many drivers’ to complete green flag pits-stops. The first to pit was Hinchcliffe, before new race leader Marco Andretti took to pit road. As the rest of the front runners made their pit-stops, Tagliani, Dixon and Kimball all lead before Andretti returned to the front.

Mike Conway suffered a torrid stop, as he locked up heading into his pit box and subsequently hit several mechanics. Due to this he was issued a drive-through penalty, however the Brit was unable to take that penalty as he was involved in a scary airborne incident with Will Power’s Penske. Conway lost control of his car on track and spun, before Power collided into the spinning wreck and tipped Conway into a fearsome airborne crash. Luckily both were unscathed after the incident, as the safety car controlled the field for the next 10 laps.

The race was restarted for only 2 more laps, before Ana Beatriz caused the third caution of the day. She spun her car, and suffered light damage however she was able to rejoin the race several laps behind the leader. Whilst under the caution, Andretti and Hinchcliffe opted to pit.

As the race was restarted, Scott Dixon lead at the front. However several laps later both Dixon and Franchitti pitted thus handing the lead down to Takuma Sato, who became the first Japanese driver to lead the Indy 500 since Toranosuke Takagi in 2003. Another caution was caused only moments after these green flag stops, as Sebastien Saavedra slowed down on the slip road due to mechanical issues. This therefore enabled the majority of the field to pit.

Upon the restart, Dario Franchitti miraculously lead at the front after carving his way through the pack after his previous pit-lane spin. Both he and his team-mate Dixon happily jostled for the lead several times, before the fifth caution was caused as Josef Newgarden pulled to the side of the track to retire. Once again the majority of the field pitted under caution, with Dixon leading on the restart.

As the race once again restarted, the two Ganassi’s of Dixon and Franchitti resumed battling for the lead, before the Kiwi made Indy 500 history by taking a record breaking 30th lead change throughout the race. With many drivers’ concerned about fuel consumption, their fears were abolished when Ed Carpenter caused yet another caution thus enabling the leaders to conserve fuel.

With only 20 laps remaining, it was set to be a straight fight for the win as Kanaan amazingly came from 6th to the lead on the restart before yet another caution as Andretti crashed on lap 187. As the debris was cleared, tension was mounting as a 6-lap shootout began on lap 194. Franchitti and Dixon once again swapped positions at the top, before Sato stormed to 2nd as the white flag emerged to signify the final lap. Heading to the first corner, and disaster struck for the Japanese driver as he tried to pass Dario for the lead and spun in the wall.

In utter confusion and thrilling excitement, Dario Franchitti won by default as the caution flag came out. This is Dario Franchitti’s third Indy 500 win, and his first of the 2012 IndyCar Series season.

Results - 200 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Car Gap
 1.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda
 2.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda            + 0.0295s
 3.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevy                 + 0.0677s
 4.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy        + 2.9166s
 5.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevy             + 3.6721s
 6.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevy           + 4.0962s
 7.  Justin Wilson        Dale Coyne DW12-Honda         + 4.2430s
 8.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda            + 4.6056s
 9.  Townsend Bell        Schmidt DW12-Honda            + 5.6168s
10.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevy             + 7.6352s
11.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevy                 + 7.9240s
12.  Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Honda              + 8.2543s
13.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda            + 8.7539s
14.  JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevy            + 11.3423s
15.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne DW12-Honda         + 13.4494s
16.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt DW12-Honda            + 14.1382s
17.  Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda              + 1 lap
18.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevy                 + 1 lap
19.  Michel Jourdain Jr   Rahal DW12-Honda              + 1 lap
20.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon DW12-Chevy             + 1 lap
21.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevy          + 1 lap
22.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Chevy             + 1 lap
23.  Ana Beatriz          Andretti/Conquest DW12-Chevy  + 10 laps

Retirements:

     Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevy           187 laps
     Josef Newgarden      Fisher DW12-Honda             161 laps
     Sebastian Saavedra   AFS/Andretti DW12-Chevy       143 laps
     Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevy           123 laps
     Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevy             79 laps
     Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda               78 laps
     Bryan Clauson        Fisher DW12-Chevy             46 laps
     Wade Cunningham      Foyt DW12-Honda               42 laps
     Jean Alesi           Fan Force DW12-Lotus          10 laps
     Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus                9 laps

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