Categories
Audi WEC

Remember, Allan McNish is one lucky guy!

Allan McNish crash

Racing cars for a living means you’re automatically a lucky guy. But as we know, motorsport is dangerous and that fact was highlighted in spectacular fashion when Allan McNish crashed out of the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans in dramatic style.

We’re glad McNish was able to walk away from that wreckage totally unharmed. We’re also glad he managed to win Le Mans before he retired to finally erase any feelings of regret which may have been lingering since 2011.

You can relive the video of McNish’s accident after the break.

Categories
Audi WEC

Allan McNish retires from competitive motorsport

Allan McNish

Reigning Le Mans winner Allan McNish has announced he will be retiring from motorsport. The Audi factory driver, who also shared the 2013 World Endurance Championship, with teammates Loïc Duval and Tom Kristensen, turns 44 on 29 December and said the time is right.

“I found the ideal moment for myself to bring an end to my LMP sports-prototype racing with Audi,” explained McNish. “Together with my teammates Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval I finished my most successful season in the sports car.

“Having also won the Le Mans 24 Hours, I can’t wish for more than what we’ve achieved this year. I can look back on a fantastic career that has left no aims unfinished and I’m looking forward to new challenges the future holds for me.”

McNish won Le Mans three times: 1998 (Porsche GT1-98), 2010 (Audi R10 TDI) and 2013 (Audi R18 e-tron quattro).

The likeable Scot, who raced in F1 with Toyota in 2002, goes with the blessing of Audi Motorsport and the best wishes of all motor racing fans.

“We appreciate and respect Allan’s decision to retire at the pinnacle of his career,” said Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport. “At the same time, this is a parting that is particularly difficult for us. All of us are well aware of Allan’s racing successes.

“We regret that Allan will no longer be contesting any races for us but are happy that he will continue to be associated with Audi Sport and the Audi brand.”

Categories
Audi Toyota WEC

Audi wins 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans

Audi R18 etron, 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013

In a drama filled race Audi stood atop the podium for the twelfth time after winning the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans on the weekend. The #2 R18 e-tron quattro (Loïc Duval, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish) completed 348 laps, one more than the #8 Toyota TS030 Hybrid (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Stéphane Sarrazin), with the #3 Audi (Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gené, Oliver Jarvis) claiming third place, just under two minutes behind the Toyota.

Of course, the 81st running of the classic endurance race will be remembered for the sad passing of Danish driver Allan Simonsen, who was killed after crashing his Aston Martin V8 Vantage on the fourth lap of the race.

Throughout the whole race inclement weather and accidents ensured the field spent more time behind the Safety Car than organisers and fans would like. Indeed, a record amount of time was spent under full course yellows—11 periods adding up to more than five hours.

Toyota put up a strong fight and had enviable reliability. While the winning #2 Audi ran faultlessly, too, concerns were raised in the Audi garage after the pole sitting #1 R18 suffered alternator problems and lost several laps while it was repaired. Around the same time the #3 car picked up a puncture following minor contact with a slower car. Unfortunately Oliver Jarvis, who was driving at the time, had to travel almost an entire lap on the damaged tyre and the lost time added up to a two-lap deficit.

Up to that point the three Audis were jostling for positions on the podium. The #1 R18 was never able to rejoin the fight for victory and finished fifth, 10 laps down. The #3 Audi fought back well from its earlier problems to put pressure on the #7 Toyota, which succumbed when Nicolas Lapierre slid off the track in slippery conditions with an hour to go.

A special note of acknowledgement for Tom Kristensen as well, who notched up a record ninth Le Mans victory. It was the third win for Allan McNish and the first for Loïc Duval.

The LMP2 category was won by the #35 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan. While Porsche took out both the GTE Pro and Am classes. The factory-backed Manthey team 991 911 RSRs finished first and second in GTE Pro, with the customer IMSA Performance Matmut team winning the GTE Am category.

So, we move on to 2014, hopefully learning from the death of Allan Simonsen, where the closeness of the barrier to a large tree may have contributed to his death. And we look forward to increased competition for Audi when Toyota will be joined by Porsche in the chase for LMP1 glory.

Categories
Audi Motorsports

Allan McNish on driving the R18 e-tron quattro

Audi R18 e-tron quattro

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro has just entered the history books as the first hybrid powered car to claim pole position for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. By carrying the term “quattro” in its title we know this car is all-wheel drive, but it’s not really like any quattro system we’ve seen before.

Rather than developing this car from the ground up Audi has, from outside, appeared to add the hybrid drivetrain to last year’s race winning R18 ultra, which was powered by a 3.5 litre turbo diesel V6.

For the R18 e-tron quattro the V6 diesel remains and powers the rear wheels only. A flywheel accumulator, similar to the system used in the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid, captures power under braking and offers up that power to the front wheels at speeds over 120km/h. In a way, it’s like the car is powered by two separate drivetrains.

So what’s it like to drive? Thankfully, two-time Le Mans winner with Audi, Allan McNish, is on hand to give us a brief explanation in the video below…

Categories
Audi Motorsports

VIDEO: Allan McNish crashes out of Le Mans

Audi driver Allan McNish was lucky to walk away from this spectacular crash in the 2011 Le Mans 24 hour race. The incident happened inside the first hour, just after the Dunlop bridge, when McNish clipped the #58 Luxury Racing Ferrari driven by Anthony Beltoise.

According to Beltoise the speed of the prototype R18 TDI is up to 50km/h quicker than the slower GTE class Ferrari through that section of track and speculation suggests that McNish could not see the Ferrari around his teammate in the #1 Audi who had slowed down due to the slower car.

It was a frightening accident and the relief of the Audi Sport Team Joest crew can be seen after McNish emerged from the wreckage.

Categories
Audi WEC

Allan McNish on the Le Mans 24 hour race

Audi and two-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish have prepared this excellent short film about the rigours of racing in the world’s most famous 24 hour race.

The promo will premiere on television screens this weekend during the final of the UEFA Champions League at Wembley.

It’s damn good, too, and the team at UK ad agency BBH should be very proud. Watch the clip above and then read more in Audi’s official presser after the break.