Allan McNish’s run of atrocious luck in this year’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup continued yesterday (1 Oct) in the Petit Le Mans endurance sportscar race.
The Dumfries-born ace partnered by Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Dindo Capello (Italy) retired his Audi R18 TDI on safety grounds with 90mins to run in the1,000-mile race – the penultimate round of the ILMC.
The McNish/Kristensen/Capello turbo diesel Audi started from fourth place on the capacity 53-car grid with McNish aiming for a fifth personal Petit victory and Audi’s 10th in the annual 394-lap race around the undulating 2.54-mile circuit.
But Kristensen’s sleek 3.7-litre, V6-engined Coupé lost a lap and dropped to 41st after 37mins following an unscheduled pit-stop to replace the front nose bodywork section and a punctured left tyre following contact with a slower GT car.
McNish took over with almost two hours on the clock and had recovered impressively to sixth just 50mins later only for a car to run up the back of his Audi under braking for a corner pushing him in to another car.
Two separate pit-stops were necessary to change the right rear suspension and clutch – plus right hand sidepod damaged earlier in the race – costing the McNish/Kristensen/Capello Audi 63mins for repairs with Capello resuming 44th.
Ultimately McNish stopped with an hour remaining placed 31st with steering issues – a legacy of the earlier multiple collisions in the race.
“It’s another disappointment for the three of us,” reflected Allan. “There were a lot of cars on track and so we knew traffic was going to be an issue. Tom had contact early on which put us behind but we were coming back well until I was hit.
“I had to brake very hard when a car came across in front of me. A car hit me up the back, pushing me into the car in front of me and I spun.
“We later withdrew the Audi on the grounds of safety after problems with the steering – a result of all the ‘hits’ the car had suffered. It’s really disappointing for Tom, Dindo and I because we all felt that we had a good car and one that we could take the fight to win the race.”
At mid-distance the Peugeot of eventual winners Stéphane Sarrazin/Franck Montagny/Alexander Wurz narrowly led the “sister” Audi Sport Team Joest R18 TDI of Timo Bernhard (D)/Marcel Fässler (CH)/Romain Dumas (F) – the Audi having started from second place but held a one-lap advantage at one point.
With just over seven hours gone, Dumas was squeezed over by Montagny as the Audi attempted to overtake. While trying to avoid a collision with the Peugeot, Dumas brushed a GT car and hit the retaining wall heavily – the Frenchman uninjured but his R18 TDI too badly damaged to continue.
The seventh and final round of the ILMC is staged at Zhuhai, China, on 13 November.
