McNish gives insight into Duval crash 13 | 06 | 2014
THREE YEARS AFTER miraculously walking away from his own violent high-speed crash at the Le Mans 24-Hours, Allan McNish looked on as his Audi team-mate, Frenchman Loic Duval, sat motionless after a 170mph impact at the track.
And the 43-year-old from Dumfries, who retired from racing last year having won Le Mans three times — 12 months ago partnered by Duval and Tom Kristensen — and sealed the 2013 FIA World Championship, has explained how he then saw another aspect of the sport.
"In the immediate aftermath of the crash, I saw something I had never seen before, and that's the humanity behind a major incident," McNish, now a pivotal figure behind-the-scenes in Audi Sport, said as he reflected on Duval's destructive crash into catch-fencing during Wednesday evening's opening free practice session.
"As a driver, when you're in the car, you're in the helmet; you're in the incident. You're completely detached from everything else that's happening outside the immediate crash. You're there, and you know things are ok.
"What I witnessed immediately after Loic's crash was the total human side of everything which is behind such an incident.
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"Of course there were team members checking data, checking information, seeing whether they could decipher what happened: was it something that required them to look at the other cars, or not?
"But I could see the raw emotion, shock, concern, fear on the faces of everyone in the garage. And it wasn't just one person: it was everyone.
"Even afterwards, once we knew Loic was conscious, talking and out of the car, there was still huge concern.
"The car? Yes, it's a lot of money; yes it's this, yes it's that. But the primary concern was that it wasn't just a life; more importantly, it was Loic.
"It was someone we know; it was someone we trust: someone we live the good times with, we live the bad times with. All those things, and many more.
"And that was the biggest thing for me: to see it from a human, personal point of view."
The fact that, miraculously, Duval only suffered cuts to his shoulder and leg, is testament to the inherent build quality, strength and safety built into his Audi R18 e-tron hybrid quattro.
Though McNish confirmed "the boy's ok", doctors have stopped Duval from racing this weekend, simply because "his body needs time to recover".
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His place in the No1 car — which has been completely rebuilt, despite having looked as though it had been the victim of an explosion — has been taken by Spaniard Marc Gene, who will now partner Kristensen and Brazilian Lucas di Grassi.
McNish meanwhile, admits the biggest danger he's likely to face is sunburn, as scorching temperatures continue to bake the 8.27-mile circuit which runs through the French countryside on normally-public roads used by cars, HGVs and tractors.
"Working with the team behind the scenes brings its own pressures," he smiled, "but nothing like being behind the wheel of the race car.
"There's no denying this is a different type of Le Mans for me: still hectic, but in a slightly more controllable way. I'm very relaxed with what I'm doing now, and I don't have the energy-sapping intensity of racing."
That might be the case, but there will still be pressure on McNish in the immediate build-up to the start of the race at 3pm French time on Saturday.
"I've been given the honour of being 'Grand Marshal' for the weekend, which includes me driving the pace car which leads the 56 cars round the circuit on the formation lap.
"Just before the cars enter the start-finish straight, I have to dart off into the pitlane entry road and get off the track to let the race begin. That'll be the hardest part of the weekend really, because I know I'll really want to keep on racing at the front of the pack."
Related: Audi ace Loic Duval ruled out of Le Mans
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Jim McGill