Britain’s Allan McNish lost the chance of scoring his fifth and Audi’s 10th victory in the annual 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans race victory at Road Atlanta on Saturday (2 Oct) in bizarre circumstances.
McNish and co-drivers Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Dindo Capello (Italy) brought their diesel-engined Audi, the actual Le Mans 24 Hour race winning sportscar, home in third place – two-laps behind the race winning Peugeot of Stéphane Sarrazin/Pedro Lamy/Franck Montagny.
The McNish/Kristensen/Capello “factory” Audi R15 TDI became embroiled in a hectic three-car battle with the two-car Peugeot team for the opening six hours before Capello pitted from the lead when his flameproof balaclava, worn underneath his crash helmet, worked its way down over his eyes necessitating an immediate and unscheduled pit-stop.
“The outcome of the race was ultimately decided when Dindo had to make an out of sequence pit-stop and with no opportunity to get back on the lead lap, it was game over in terms of us challenging for the race victory,” reflected McNish.
“Just as the race re-started after a full course caution period with Dindo in the lead, an inner lining insert in his crash helmet moved causing his balaclava to slide further down his forehead and then over his eye so obviously he had to stop and I took over when he pitted.
“It had been an eventful race right from the green light. The balance of the Audi was immediately good allowing me to mix it with both Peugeots which was pretty exciting. Dindo, Tom and I all had turns in the lead depending on the pit-stop strategies.”
Dumfries-born McNish had started the 394-lap race, which lasted over nine hours, from fourth position on the 42-car grid but swept in to second place at the start to begin a titanic duel with Audi’s French rivals. Apart from a puncture three laps from the finish with Kristensen at the wheel, the #7 McNish Audi ran faultlessly.
The result means Audi has finished on the Petit Le Mans race winner’s rostrum each year since the German manufacturer’s début in the American race in 2000 – which includes nine outright race victories.
The “sister” Audi Sport Team Joest R15 TDI piloted by Marcel Fässler (CH)/André Lotterer (D)/Benoît Treluyer (F) started from third place and finished sixth place overall and fifth in the LMP1 class. Their Audi ran third in the early stages but Lotterer left the track when trying to avoid a slower car resulting in a 15-lap pit-stop for repairs which dropped the #9 Audi to 21st place.
Audi has finished third in the opening two rounds of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup which concludes in China next month (7 Nov) leaving McNish hungry to score his second race win of the season after winning the opening Le Mans Series race at Paul Ricard in April.
Allan added: “Considering the build-up we endured during the Petit race week which included two complete car rebuilds after incidents in testing and practice, overall it was a pretty good result. We can be pleased with our general performance in this latest race but must make improvements in certain areas for our final race of the year in China.
“We [Audi] are very keen to give the R15 TDI a nice send off present with a victory and I’ll be trying my hardest to accomplish this with Tom.”
Despite the unfortunate outcome of the U.S. race for Audi the decision in the inaugural season of the ILMC will only be made at the finale at Zhuhai. Audi has a gap of 36 points in the LMP1 manufacturers’ class with 48 points to be awarded in China.
