McNish spearheads Audi seasonposted in LMANS24 | 01 | 2011

    SCOT ALLAN McNISH faces a hectic season after Audi today confirmed he will not only lead its assault on the Le Mans 24-Hours in June, but he'll tackle all seven rounds of the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

    And the 41-year-old from Dumfries, already a double winner at Le Mans, will start his season by competing in the Sebring 12 Hours on March 19; the final round of the ILMC — which visits North America, Europe and Asia — is in China on November 12.

    “It's going to be a very busy season,” McNish — who will partner regular co-drivers Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Dindo Capello (Italy) — admitted today. “The calendar of Sebring, Spa, Le Mans, Imola, Silverstone, Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta and then China is essentially a season of the very best sportscar races in one championship, which is tremendously exciting.”

    At Sebring, McNish will drive an Audi R15 TDI sports-prototype modified to comply with new regulations. But for the rest of the season, the Scot will pilot Audi's all-new R18, powered by a 3.7-litre V6 TDI engine with a new six-speed transmission which has been specifically modified for use with the smaller engine necessitated by rule changes.

    “I'm really looking forward to racing the R18 having tested it before Christmas and again this month," McNish continued. "It's a ‘closed’ car, as opposed to the ‘open top’ R8, R10 TDI and R15 TDI sportscars that I’ve raced for Audi since 2000.

    “It’s also right-hand-drive, which is another departure as all previous Audi sports-prototypes  have been left-hand-drive. The R18 features a much smaller engine which is regulation driven, a 3.7-litre V6 turbo diesel, so from that side it is quite different from the 5.5 litre V10 we had before but still using the same pioneering Audi TDI technology.

    “Audi Sport has produced a car that will give us the efficient but fast running that we require to win the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Intercontinental Cup.”

    2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup

    March 19: Sebring 12 Hours, USA

    May 8: Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours, Belgium

    June 11-12: Le Mans 24 Hours, France

    July 3: Imola 6 Hours, Italy

    Sept 11: Silverstone 6 Hours, England

    Oct 1: Petit Le Mans 1000m, USA

    Nov 12: TBA, China

    Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars

    Jim McGill

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