Pippa Mann will return to the mighty 24 Hours of the Nürburgring for her fourth time with all-female squad Girls Only by WS Racing; the British racer will also share the BMW M4 GT4 with Beitske Visser and a yet to be announced teammate.
Pippa Mann will return to all-female team Girls Only by WS Racing for the fourth year in a row and will enter one race of the Nürburgring-based NLS as well as the 52nd running of the ADAC Total Energies 24 Hour race at the Nordschleife.
Mann was part of the class winning crew that claimed victory in the 2021 edition, and went on to secure further podium finishes in the following years in the SP8-T category.
“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."
The 'Girls Only' project has raced at the Nordschleife since 2019, first in the TCR class before moving to GT4 machinery and has become a platform for female drivers, engineers, mechanics and management alike, thanks to the efforts of project founder Nicole Willems who has proven than men and women can perform and compete as equals at the highest levels of motorsport.
Despite misfortunes during the night in last year's edition – where Mann and her teammates lost several laps and were taken out of contention for a potential win – the British racer managed to finish the race and set the fastest lap for the team in the final stint of the race.
“Last year, we had an amazing race car", Mann continued. "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."
She is now set to return behind the wheel of the BMW M4 GT4 for two more races in 2024: one of three NLS rounds scheduled for the team and the ADAC Total Energies 24 Hours on June 1-2.
The former Indycar driver – with 7 starts at the Indy 500 on her impressive resumé – will share the car with Beitske Visser at NLS2 as well as at the flagship event, but other teammates are yet to be announced. French racer Célia Martin, who was previously part of the programme, announced she will not return to Girls Only having just joined Iron Dames for the upcoming Michelin Le Mans Cup championship.
Mann will also continue to work as a coach and co-driver for various clients in endurance racing across the US, alongside her groundbreaking work at Shift Up Now. She is in fact CEO of the organization that provides opportunity and funding for talented female drivers.