Firestone Indy Lights: Chicagoland 100

Topics:  Chicagoland 100

Philip Major
Pippa Mann
August 28, 2010

JOLIET, ILLINOIS

THE MODERATOR: We're joined now by our second and third place finishers from today's Chicagoland 100, Pippa Mann and Philip Major, both getting career best finishes today in Firestone Indy Lights. For both of you guys, talk about today's race.
PHILIP MAJOR: Yeah, it was definitely an exciting race the first time here. I've never driven side by side with other cars so much in my life. It's pretty crazy. But I think the main thing was just trying to conserve the tires so you could make the pass at the end, and I think we were able to do that. But I guess next time we just need two more positions.
THE MODERATOR: For Pippa, you skipped mid-Ohio due to hand surgery and you've come back now. Infineon at that time was your career best finish and you've topped it now at Chicagoland. Talk about your comeback after that surgery.
PIPPA MANN: Yeah, maybe they should have made me the bionic woman a bit sooner, I don't know. That's what everybody kept joking is they put metal into me, so I guess there was some truth to it.
In all honesty, I came back at Infineon and it was really, really tough there on my hand. The boys gave me an awesome car all weekend long, and I managed to do a good job with it. Here again, we unloaded with a great car.
I've been saying all weekend I thought I had a top-5-quick car. I didn't know if we had a winning car out there. I was really focused on having a car that would be great in the pack, and I wasn't so worried about having a car that would be the best car in clean air because here it's normally a huge packed race, and what do you know, I end up sitting out front all by myself in clear air, and I'm sitting there thinking, wow, I wish we had learned a bit more out of it.
Hinch just had an awesome run on me at the end there. He's been a tick quicker than me when we've been side by side all weekend long, so I looked in my mirrors at that last restart, and I saw the yellow car behind me, and I was like, ooh, snap, and I wished it could have been anybody else in the pack, but in the nicest possible way to Hinch, in the most complimentary way because I knew he was going to run me really, really hard. I was always taught to be gracious in defeat, and a better guy beat me today. He did a fantastic job, and I just pedaled mine as hard as I could out there.
I thought I was heartbroken after Indy. I'm kind of a little bit heartbroken now. I think I'll wake up and be proud of this run tomorrow maybe.

Q. Pippa, talk about the last lap. Did you think you had him again when you got him on the back stretch?
PIPPA MANN: Oh, boy, the last lap we were so close. I mean, we were so, so close. I didn't know who was going to win, but as soon as we crossed the line I knew he had won. In testing we did run side by side yesterday, and he was the only person here who was able to get around the outside of me in one lap. So I knew I was in trouble as I said to you.
So you know, I was just working everything I could, and we came really close to touching off of 4 because I was completely sideways just giving it everything I had and just left him enough room, and yeah, better guy just popped me to the post, I guess, or pipped me to the post, I guess, really. That works better with my name, doesn't it.

Q. Philip, did you make contact with Sebastien out there?
PHILIP MAJOR: No, we were running pretty close most of the race, but we kept it at least an inch apart.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to both of you on today's great finish, and we'll see you next week in Kentucky.