Britain’s Allan McNish bids for a fifth Petit Le Mans race victory at Road Atlanta in America on Saturday (26 Sep) and maintain Audi's supremacy in the annual event.
The double Le Mans 24 Hour race winner drives Audi’s latest diesel-engined sportscar, the R15 TDI, in the 1,000-mile race.
Dumfries-born McNish shares the Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI with co-driver Dindo Capello with the Scotsman looking to repeat his Petit wins alongside the Italian (2000, ’06-’08).
“I can’t wait to race again especially as I’ll be contesting one of my favourite races,” confirmed McNish. “I’m revved up and really excited. The competition from American Le Mans Series regulars Acura [Honda] and of course our fierce European rivals Peugeot will be extremely tough.
“I was only expecting to do two races this year so to get the added bonus of a third is tremendous. Petit Le Mans is a ‘classic’ race in every sense of the word. It’s staged on a superb, challenging track, features a top-quality entry and attracts well over 100,000 spectators.
“But more than anything, Petit will be an ideal and vital step in further developing the R15 TDI in readiness for Le Mans next June. Dindo, Tom and I finished third in France this year, Audi having previously won there with its diesel R10 TDI for the past three years, and everyone at Audi is very eager to get that title back in 2010.”
The two Audi R15 TDI sports-prototypes being fielded in America are unchanged except for small adaptions suiting the special characteristics of the track at Road Atlanta. During tests at Vallelunga (Italy) earlier this month various set-up versions for Petit Le Mans were compared.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport, commented: “The fielding of our cars at Road Atlanta marks the first part of our preparation for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours. It shall help our engineers to learn more about the new Audi R15 TDI in direct competition with strong rivals.
“You can simulate a lot of things during rig and track tests but nothing can replace the accurate data gained in actual racing events. At the same time, we’re pleased about the opportunity to start from the ‘Petit Le Mans’ grid again.
“Audi has had huge success there in the past few years. Particularly the two most recent, extremely thrilling races will be remembered by the fans. We’d like to continue our series of good results there. We’ve got a great car in the Audi R15 TDI and a highly motivated team.”
Around 30 cars will feature in the penultimate round of this year’s 10-race ALMS championship – McNish and Capello, plus Tom Kristensen, having scored a début race win with the R15 TDI at Sebring – the 12 Hour race in March.
McNish and Capello steered their Audi R10 TDI to a narrow 4.512 seconds victory in last year’s race after 394 laps (1000.76 miles) in a race lasting nine hours 41 Minutes 17.825 seconds. Qualifying for grid positions is on Friday (19:55-20:20*) with the race getting underway at 16:15* on Saturday.
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* Times are BST
Allan McNish “Petit Le Mans” Formguide (4 wins from 6 starts):1998 (Porsche 911 GT1): Qualified – 1st (AM). Race – Retired1999 (Porsche 911 GT1 EVO): Qualified – 15th. Race – 7th 2000 (Audi R8): Qualified – 1st (AM). Race – 1st + AM fastest lap (1:11.782, 127.386mph)2006 (Audi R10 TDI): Qualified – 2nd (AM). Race – 1st 2007 (Audi R10 TDI): Qualified – 3rd. Race – 1st + AM fastest lap (1:09.195, 132.148mph)2008 (Audi R10 TDI): Qualified – 2nd (AM). Race – 1st
Audi “Petit Le Mans” Formguide (9 wins from 9 starts):2000 (Audi R8): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello/Michele Alboreto)2001 (Audi R8): 1st (Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro)2002 (Audi R8): 1st (Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen) 2003 (Audi R8): 1st (Johnny Herbert/JJ Lehto) 2004 (Audi R8): 1st (JJ Lehto/Marco Werner)2005 (Audi R8): 1st (Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro)2006 (Audi R10 TDI): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello) 2007 (Audi R10 TDI): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello)2008 (Audi R10 TDI): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello/Emanuele Pirro)
