Scotsman in star-studded Champion line-up for Sebring & Le Mans as Audi importers in UK and North America join forces
Britain’s Allan McNish will bid to score his second and Audi’s fifth Le Mans 24 Hours race victory this summer. The 1998 Le Mans winner will drive for Champion Racing after Audi’s British and North American importers joined forces to ensure a star-studded six-driver, two-car Audi R8 line-up for the annual French marathon.
Audi “works” driver McNish will also race in the Sebring 12 Hours (19 March), the established season-opening endurance sportscar race of the year in Florida, prior to Le Mans (18-19 June) in between a maiden season in the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) for Audi.
Allan commented: “I’m eagerly looking forward to my first DTM season which begins in April but the challenge of Le Mans is unique and I desperately wanted to return especially after what happened last year.
“I crashed off on oil after just two hours and ended up in hospital which proves that even if you have the right car and team, you still have to beat Le Mans before beating anyone else. It always teaches you a lesson and does not respect predictions or form.”
The Champion Audi driver squad for the legendary Le Mans race have accumulated 14 wins from their 39 Le Mans combined race starts: Frank Biela (Germany) 2000, 01, 02; Tom Kristensen (Denmark) 1997, 2000, 01, 02, 03, 04; JJ Lehto (Finland) 1995; Allan McNish (Scotland) 1998; Emanuele Pirro (Italy) 2000, 01, 02; while Marco Werner has finished on the podium twice in the past two years.
Audi made its Le Mans début in 1999 and won the 2000, 01, 02 & 04 races. 2005 marks the sixth and final season for the Audi R8 - the most successful Le Mans prototype of all time - a sportscar that has achieved 52 victories from 62 races since March 2000.
McNish added: “After winning the ALMS title with Audi in 2000 I then spent three years in Formula One. I returned to the Audi fold last year on a victorious note, winning the Sebring 12 Hours last March, and I obviously hope to repeat that again this year.”
The British importer of AUDI AG, Audi UK, has been involved on three previous occasions at Le Mans (1999, 2003 and 2004) and Motorsport Manager David Ingram is delighted to be returning to the French “classic”.
“Audi UK has always had a good business relationship with Audi of America Inc so I’m delighted that we can join forces with them and Champion Racing for the Sebring 12 Hours and the Le Mans 24 Hours races,” confirmed Ingram.
“Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx won the inaugural Le Mans Endurance Series title but we [Audi UK] have unfinished business at Le Mans. Our cars started from the front row last year, led the race for the opening 15 hours only to ultimately finish second.
“Allan [McNish] suffered cruel luck, as did the Champion Audi when they both skated off on an oil slick, so Allan and the Champion team will be hoping for better fortune this June.”
The Audi Sport North America supported Champion team has recorded third place finishes at Le Mans in 2003 (Lehto/Pirro/Johansson) and 2004 (Lehto/Pirro/Werner) and won eight American Le Mans Series races last year. Since scoring its first overall victory in June 2003, the Florida-based team has recorded 12 overall ALMS race wins from 17 starts.
McNish concluded: “I have seen Champion Racing develop as a team since I first drove for them in the 1999 ALMS. They have become a very strong force. I am looking forward to hopefully earning Champion their first Sebring and Le Mans 24 Hours race wins.”
