Dumfries racer Allan McNish, acknowledged as the best sportscar racer in the world, suffered the ignominy of crashing his turbodiesel Audi R10TDI on the reconnaissance lap on the way to the grid for the start of the Petit Le Mans in Atlanta.
The 38-year-old, who won the Le Mans 24-Hours race for Audi in June, was due to start today’s 1000-mile race from second on the behind the Peugeot of Frenchman Nicolas Minassian.
But embarrassingly, McNish lost control of his Audi on cold tyres at the Esses on the Road Atlanta track and severely damaged the car.
“It was pretty serious,” McNish’s co-driver, Emanuele Pirro, explained as McNish finally joined the race two laps behind the leaders in 36th place after his American crew had repaired the car.
“The front and the rear end were badly damaged,” the Italian continued. “The positive thing is we’re in unbelievably excellent hands with the Champion team.
“Starting at the back would not have been a problem at all, but being two laps down certainly makes things interesting But we know we can catch up two laps with the yellows, so nothing’s lost.”
McNish, bidding for his fourth Petit Le Mans victory, won in dramatic style last time out when he clinched the manufacturers’ championship for Audi by winning the final round of the European Le Mans Series at Silverstone.
JM