McNish celebrates double Le Mans win 15 | 06 | 2014
SCOT ALLAN McNISH may not have been driving, but he was left celebrating two stunning successes at the end of a dramatic and intense Le Mans 24-Hours.
The 43-year-old from Dumfries — who won the gruelling race three times, once with Porsche and twice with Audi, including 12 months ago — found himself trying to be in two places at once.
McNish retired from racing last year, but he is now a pivotal member of Audi's motorsport operation helping mastermind it's continuing success. He's also involved in the development of a new squad of young drivers, including Harry Tincknell.
At the end of a hugely demanding 24 hours — which saw all the leading cars hit by a range of problems throughout the course of the race on the 8.27-mile road-based circuit — Audi claimed an ultimately dominant 1-2.
But it was gruelling and punishing, as one-by-one rivals Toyota and Porsche fell by the wayside in what was a heavyweight battle of the world's leading sportscar teams. It's a fight which will be joined next year by Nissan.
The war of attrition was eventually won by the No2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Frenchman Benoit Treluyer — who drove the final stint and took the chequered flag — Swiss Marcel Fassler and German Andre Lotterer.
The trio finished three laps ahead of the No1 sister Audi of Dane Tom Kristensen, Brazilian Lucas di Grassi and Spaniard Marc Gene. The No1 had been completely rebuilt following Loic Duval's 170mph crash on Wednesday.
The podium was completed by the No8 Toyota Hybrid of England's Anthony Davidson, Swiss Seb Buemi and Frenchman Nicholas Lapierre.
Related: Allan McNish gives insight into Loic Duval crash
But the final positions failed to reflect the drama which unfolded throughout the race, which began with two violent rainstorms 90 minutes into the race.
With visibility down to only a few yards, the No3 Audi of Cambridge's Oliver Jarvis, Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, and driven at the time by Italian Marco Bonanomi slowed dramatically as it struggled for grip on its slick tyres.
Behind it, travelling at pace, the No8 Toyota in the hands of Lapierre, lost control and slewed right. Though it only grazed the Audi, it suffered heavy damage when it clattered the barrier.
Worse though was to follow. Unsighted, Roehampton's Sam Bird ploughed into the rear of the Audi with his GTE Am AF Corse Ferrari.
While the Toyota limped back to the pits — where it eventually spent nine laps in the garage, before ultimately charging to its podium finish — both the Audi and Ferrari suffered instant retirement. Jarvis, whose car was lying in the top four at the time, was naturally angry.
"We had a genuine shot at winning the race," he said, "and we were in a terrific position. "We're all gutted. The Ferrari took out one of the leaders of the race and from what I've seen, the standard of driving just wasn't professional."
The No7 Toyota of Austrian Alex Wurz then maintained its early lead through much of the night. But as the sun rose, and with former F1 racer Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel, the car ground to a frustrating halt on the Mulsanne Straight. Unable to restart it, the car was retired.
That eased the No2 Audi into a comfortable two-lap lead ahead of the No20 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Kiwi Brendon Hartley, partnered by German Timo Bernhard and Aussie Mark Webber.
Related: Mark Webber — Le Mans interview
Suddenly though the Audi lost power, and it spent 23 minutes in the garage having a new turbocharger fitted. That handed the lead to the sister No1 car, 3min 11secs ahead of the Porsche.
With 3hrs 39mins remaining, suddenly it looked as though Porsche's dream of winning Le Mans for the 17th time — and on its first appearance since it last won in 1998 in the hands of McNish — could come true. Things looked good as it inherited the lead when the No2 car also pitted to have a failed turbocharger replaced.
But two hours from the finish, and with Webber at the wheel, the No20 slowed with what was eventually diagnosed as a terminal problem. The Porsche dream was over.
That left the two Audis to circulate round the French countryside at 200mph. Under baking hot sun, and in front of 262,000 spectators — the largest crowd since 1989 — the two cars eventually crossed the line in formation, though ultimately separated by three laps.
McNish's delight though was further boosted when Exeter-based Tincknell and his all-British crew in the Jota Sport Zytek Nissan, won the highly competitive LMP2 class.
"What a race," McNish beamed afterwards. "It was fantastic to be directly involved behind the scenes in the three Audi garages, and for us to finish on the top two steps of the podium shows just how strong the team is.
"That's 13 wins in 16 Le Mans for Audi, but this one was a real nailbiter.
"And it was the same with Harry. I've been working closely with him for a number of years and I was obviously keeping one eye on his race too.
"In the end he and the Jota team won the LMP2 class by just over a minute, but in the final few racing laps the gap was at times down to 30seconds.
"I thought retiring was going to be less stressful, but on the evidence of these last 24 hours, I think I'd be more relaxed racing!"
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Jim McGill
CAPTION: Audi's Le Mans 24-Hours winners (from left), Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, with race engineer Leena Gade.