McNish boosted by Le Mans paceposted in LMANS24 | 04 | 2011
DUMFRIES RACER ALLAN McNISH will return for the Le Mans 24-Hours in June full of confidence after his all-new Audi R18 Coupe finished the official test day at the 8.47-mile La Sarthe track at the top of the timesheets.
Partnered by Italian Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen, it was the Dane who posted the quickest time in their car. His fastest lap of 3mins 27.687secs in the afternoon session, when the track was at its best, proved unbeatable by the other 53 competing cars.
“The Le Mans test was very important for us to learn about our new R18 TDI,” 41-year-old McNish (pictured) confirmed today. “We also needed to find out how our new, small V6 diesel engine and the Coupé’s aerodynamics would each perform on this ultra-fast track; but it's all been very positive.
“In reality, until we get to the race back here in June, we are not going to see what everybody else has got in terms of performance. However it has been important for us to make sure that we got ourselves prepared in the best way possible today.”
Each of Audi’s three “closed cockpit” R18 TDI sports-prototypes spent the eight-hour test completing different set-up programmes during the test on the famous La Sarthe track which uses closed-off public roads. The morning session was disrupted briefly after a rain shower while the afternoon trials featured a Safety Car period following an on-track incident.
“The Le Mans pre-test is very important because there is no other circuit like it," McNish, who has won the world's most gruelling 24-hours race twice before, continued. "There is no other track where you have got such long straights and high speed sections through the Esses, the Porsche Curves and into Indy.”
The similar “factory” R18 TDI sports-prototypes of 2010 Le Mans winners Timo Bernhard (D)/Romain Dumas (F)/Mike Rockenfeller (D) plus Marcel Fässler (CH)/André Lotterer (D)/Benoît Treluyer (F) clocked the second (3:27.815) and fourth (3:27.878) fastest times – Fässler suffering a spin into the gravel during the morning.
Before returning to Le Mans for the endurance classic on June 11/12, McNish and Audi now focuses on the race début of the Audi R18 TDI which will be at Spa in Belgium for a 1000km race on Saturday, May 7, the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.
CLICK HERE to see more images of McNish's Audi at the Le Mans test
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars
Jim McGill