Pippa Mann relishes fighting against the odds. When she was 17, the British girl had to leave school and work as a waitress in a pizza restaurant to fuel her racing dreams. As not many people encouraged a girl in a racing overall, Pippa was then forced to cross the Atlantic before making history on American soil — the first British girl to line-up at the prestigious Indy 500.

Now at 28 as an established contender in famous IndyCar series, Pippa has a battle in hand. She’s on the fast-track to recovery after her pinkie and ring finger on right hand were badly burnt and required five hours of surgery after a horrifying multiple-car pileup that killed Dan Wheldon in the Indy finale last year at Las Vegas.

Pippa, who is one of the biggest stars to be featured in the inaugural season of the i1 Super Series organised by Machdar Motorsports, says the Indian league will be good preparation ahead of her new IndyCar season. “Having sustained an injury, getting back in the car (Radical SR3 at i1) before I am back in an IndyCar allows to rehab my hand on the job, while getting to a drive a different style of car and visiting a few new countries will add to the challenge,” she added.

According to Pippa, America is a paradise for women racers. “Europe is still a lot more prejudice towards us. I don’t want to be on track because I'm a novelty; I am here because I am as skilled as anyone else. If I can turn up and do every aspect of my job as well as the guy next to me, I have to treated on a par with him. That’s something I love about the US. The fact that women shouldn’t be in F1 seems to be much more ingrained into people in Europe than it is in the US,” Pippa said.

Pippa says having some racing in the off-season when drivers normally don’t get to do much is a great concept from the i1 organisers. “India is an up and coming market for motorsport as are the other countries on the i1 calendar, so it will be good to perform in front of a whole new audience. Also, on a personal level, racing drivers love a level-playing field,” said Pippa.

The death of Wheldon, Pippa's teammate at Indy Lights, has raised questions over the safety of IndyCar series and oval circuits. But Pippa has no qualms about competing again. “Oval racing always has been more dangerous than racing on road and street circuits simply due to the speed at which we travel and the proximity of the walls regardless of whether an accident involves one car or two. Having said that, oval is unique and a big part of IndyCar’s heritage. It is a different skill from road racing — requiring more feel, more precision, and better concentration,” she said.

Pippa’s tips to Armaan

Pippa, who finished fifth overall in the Indy Light in 2010, has an advice for Indian youngster Armaan Ebrahim who will be making his Indy Lights debut in March. “He should seek out a driver coach to make a swift transition and understand what the car needs because they require a fairly specific style of driving. I had to learn almost from scratch. In terms of the ovals, the big thing is not trying to over drive the car and just to take his time getting up to speed and learning how the cars feel in traffic and how to race them on ovals,” she added.