Around the Paddock: Mid-Ohio, Friday

(Originally posted by Steph to Planet-IRL.com.)

Welcome to Around the Paddock, a new type of post here at Planet-IRL that we’re hoping to be able to offer to you as often as possible.  I was able to spend some time in the garages this afternoon, and four drivers were good enough to allow me a quick few minutes of their time.

The first driver I spoke with was Pippa Mann (apologies for the background noise on this one).  She talked about the status of her hand injury and how that affected her performance at the Canadian races, and she gave us some background of the origins and goals of her newly launched Pippa’s Podium campaign.

Afterward, I caught up with J.R. Hildebrand to get his thoughts on his first race weekend behind the wheel of an IndyCar, how he’s integrating with Dreyer & Reinbold thus far, and his career goals in the bigger picture.

Then I was able to track down Simona de Silvestro who had some interesting perspectives on the driver’s experience here at Mid-Ohio in an IndyCar as well as how her experience in Atlantics here will affect her first IICS race weekend.  She also touched on her feelings on her season thus far and on how she feels about the increased attention she’s receiving.

And I ended the day with James Hinchcliffe as we talked post-practice about the great start he’s having to his weekend, his up-and-down experience in Canada, and what it’s going to take to defeat J.K. Vernay in the FIL championship.

The full audio file can be accessed by clicking here.