Graham Rahal, while doing Versus promotions, took some time out to answer some questions on how he felt going into the first race of the season.  Graham is very optimistic and feels good going into St. Petersburg.  I don’t see why he wouldn’t be being that he won there last year in his IndyCar Series debut.  Let’s not forget that he ran really well at the off-season testing at Barber Motorsports Park.  

Graham also answered questions for fellow open wheel bloggers: Pressdog, is it May yet?, 16th and Georgetown

photo: Ron McQueeny

When I was at Homestead Miami Speedway, I had the opportunity to catch up with Pippa Mann of Panther Racing after the Firestone Indy Lights open test session had ended and ask her a few questions.

IRLblog: How did the opportunity for you drive in the Firestone Indy Lights come about and how does it compare to driving in the World Series by Renault?

Pippa:  I have been looking over to coming over to the states since I ran in the World Series by Renault.  That is pretty much as high as you can go in Europe unless you have money behind you.  In Europe it is still pretty closed off for woman drivers as well.  My manager was speaking to a few people to see if there was anything out there.  The opportunity came up to meet with Panther Racing.  Panther was encrusted on having another European driver over and actually wound up with two of us.  They had me over to Sonoma and I met John Barnes as well as other members of Panther Racing.  They called me up and offered me a contract and here I am.

IRLblog: How does it feel to be one of the higher anticipated rookies in a Firestone Indy Lights with this seasons rookie class as large as it is?

Pippa: I just hope that I can do a really good job for these guys.  They have a great oval car.  It’s a fantastic car.  I hope to do really well on the ovals.  I am still very new at it.  Riding in traffic is still something that I have to get used to.  Last year these guys had a slightly tougher time with road courses, so we have been working really hard over the winter and we now feel we have a much better road course car for this year.  Everyone is really looking forward to this season.

IRLblog: Since Homestead is your first time driving on an oval, how does it compare to road courses in the sense of ease to learn?  Is it harder to learn road course driving or oval driving?

Pippa: Back in Europe when you drive road courses, you have these very big 180 degree turns on tracks such as Monza called parabolics which are very fast fifth and sixth gear, pretty much flat out corners, and so for a road course driver it is easier to learn ovals because it is really two parabolics put together.  It’s actually flat out and the way the car reacts and behaves is very similar.

IRLblog: How does it feel to be picked up by a team such as Panther Racing?

Pippa: It is an incredible oppurtunity for me and you have to look at their past success and how many races they won on ovals last season.  I am looking forward to the first oval race as well as the first race in St. Petersburg.

photo: racing.honda.com

I had the opportunity to talk with Dave Sharpley Jr. who is the the chief mechanic of the #7 Motorola driven by Danica Patrick and ask him a few questions.

1: With the off season here, what goes on at AGR?

In the off-season in the racing business it’s a very busy place. Everyone asks this Question. We Rebuild and or repair our entire pit and garage equipment. We also do our shop repairs, maintenance and upgrades. At AGR we don’t have janitors. So we do all the work ourselves which makes each employee take better care through the year. We also do Upgrades to our haulers insides to make life on the road easier and more worker friendly while working through the long summer.

2: What are some of the things you are trying to improve as a team for 2009?

Obviously we are trying to improve performance in every way, because that’s our job. We make our cars better in all aspects to the best of our ability as mechanics to insure 100% reliability. Also our engineering staff works towards the same common goal.

3: What do you love/are passionate most about your job as a Chief Mechanic for a professional racing team?

Reliability and Professionalism. As Chief mechanic, our job is to make sure all the parts and pieces are installed correctly and to make sure the other mechanics have everything they need in a timely fashion to do their jobs correctly. I enjoy the job from top to bottom and I am grateful just to have the opportunity to be here.

4: What made you decide to get into motorsports?

My Father was a mechanic as a weekend warrior while I was growing up in Pennsylvania. I always wanted to race and did so for a while and realized I was a better mechanic and enjoyed working on cars better than driving them. I always dreamed of being paid to work on a race car. I never imagined it would turn out this way.

5: What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Without a doubt, winning the 2007 Indianapolis 500. NOTHING will ever compare to drinking the milk with Dario and all the guys in victory lane at Indy. My wife and daughter were there with me to enjoy the moment. I have had a few others that are awesome but let’s face it, we do this to be at Indy and it was better than I ever imagined.

6: What is the greatest obstacle that you had to overcome?

I think leaving Pennsylvania was the biggest. After growing up in one place, having family there and being the first one to move away was a huge hurdle. The support was great and with positive support from my parents and long time girlfriend (now my wife) off to Indy I went and never looked back. That was 1998 and it’s been great since that day. But driving away from my comforts in PA was a struggle.

7: What are your favorite and least favorite tracks you have visited?

Favorite………….Indianapolis. It’s intimidating with its history and just walking into the garage area is a treat.

Least Favorite……………..Japan, I love the track and the facility. The food is hard to figure out and talking to someone to just figure out what you are ordering is completely impossible. And the 1 hour bus rides to the track and back everyday are a bummer.

8: How do you feel about the new chassis changes coming up?

Right now I am not 100% sure what is going to change. I am only concerned right now about making 2009 the best that we possibly can and we can attack other things after we get through the current challenges.

9: What was/is you biggest inspiration/motivation?

My biggest inspiration and motivation is my family. When we left PA they knew it was going to be a whole new world for me and they stood behind me through thick and thin. My wife never gave up and she was with me when life was tough. No matter what my decisions, she stands by me and without that I might not have ever made that first drive to Indianapolis.

10: Tell us something you do as a chief mechanic that race fans would not normally know?

I lose more tools now since my tools no longer go to the track than I have lost in 9 years of working on these cars. Also, we spend most of our days looking and finding parts for the guys building the cars. Four Indy cars us up a lot of parts in a short time.

11: What innovations would you like to see in the future?

There is a lot of testing being done for driver safety especially around the head area. I think that is VERY important and I am glad they are focusing on safety. These cars go very fast and safety is always on our minds.

12: If you could see any other driver race in the series not currently in Indy Car who would it be?

Not completely sure about the answer to this one.

13: How is it working with Danica on a day to day basis?

Working with her is fine. She is a race car driver and that is how we treat her. She is no different because she is a girl. She is tough, she is determined and sometimes a handful. We had our share of ups and downs until I figured out what she liked and when to talk to her and when not to bother her. She is cool. I enjoy the challenge.

14: What are the biggest challenges faced by someone in your position?

The whole job is a challenge. I think time and experience makes it easier. There are 3 other Chiefs there and we all help each other. A lot of times you have to stand back and let the mechanics do there job instead of jumping in and getting in there way. It’s a challenge everyday that I try to use as motivation.

15: How did you find yourself working at AGR?

I had a good friend deliver a resume to the General Manager of AGR and for some reason they called me. That was the best phone call I have gotten in a long time. I am very grateful they took a chance on me and I will do my best to make them happy they did. It’s a cool place to work and the experience around the shop makes it easy to feed from.

16: What did you think of Pixars movie “Cars”?

I loved it. I love Mader. That guy was funny and he never gave up. He always had something to say that made things better. I also liked Doc Hudson. He had experience and just listening to him say a few small things made Lightning McQueen think. That’s a leader.

Look for more Q & A sessions in the future.  If you would like to ask Dave a question, you can e-mail me at Brendon@IRLblog.com and I will hold another Q & A session after the New Year.