McNish eyes Brazil winposted in LMANS30 | 08 | 2013

SCOTS SPORTSCAR ACE Allan McNish returns to action this weekend for the first time since he won his third Le Mans 24-Hours in June.

The 43-year-old from Dumfries bids to extend his lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship when he tackles the Sao Paulo Six Hours on Sunday, with qualifying tomorrow.

McNish will again be partnered by co-drivers Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Loic Duval (France) in his hybrid-diesel Audi R18 e-tron quattro.

“It’ll be good to get back racing," McNish, who holds 30-point lead in the championship, said today at the Brazilian track. "It’s been quite a gap since Le Mans.

"In addition to the physical recovery time required after Le Mans, I had a large number of media and marketing commitments which I had to carry out.

"I also had a couple of weeks holiday with the family at the start of August, but now I can’t wait to get back to racing.

“The Interlagos circuit is pretty physical. It's mainly left-handers and you need to be clean and tidy in traffic, especially through the middle section.

"Toyota won here last year and will again a strong rival, so we need to clearly improve compared to 12 months ago.

"That said, I know the Audi engineers have improved our hybrid system, which particularly helps us in accelerating out of the last turn which takes us uphill on to the start-finish straight.

"That development and additional speed will be crucial because it then catapults you down into the start of the next lap through turns one, two and three.

"It's terrific to be here with such a healthy lead in the championship, but we must ensure we maintain our commitment and do everything we can to win again."

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Jim McGill