# McNish Raring to Go Racing Again as ILMC Championship Continues in Italy



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Allan McNish races his diesel-engined Audi R18 TDI on Sunday (3 July) for the first time since the Scotsman stepped uninjured from his spectacular Le Mans 24 Hours accident.

The tremendous strength of the Audi Coupé undoubtedly saved the Dumfries-born ace and German team-mate Mike Rockenfeller – in a separate accident – from major injury in the annual race which Audi ultimately won.

But McNish is now raring to go again and relishing the prospect of contesting the four remaining Intercontinental Le Mans Cup races between now and November. Allan finished fourth (Sebring, USA) and third (Spa, Belgium), and is hungry for glory at Imola near Bologna.

“After Audi’s victory in the year’s biggest race [Le Mans 24 Hours] and obviously what I went through, the team and I are now totally focussed on the remaining ILMC races,” confirmed McNish who tested an Audi R18 TDI this week.

“There is no Drivers’ championship, only Manufacturers’ and Teams’ titles and it’s very close so my target for the remainder of the year is to help Audi and Audi Sport Team Joest claim the ILMC titles to go alongside the Le Mans 24 Hour race silverware in Ingolstadt.”

McNish has only raced once before at the 3.05-mile Imola circuit – in the 2002 San Marino Formula One Grand Prix – and last competed in Italy in 2008 when he and Dindo Capello shared an Audi R10 TDI to sixth place at Monza. 

For the Imola and remaining ILMC races, McNish will co-drive with Tom Kristensen (Denmark) while Marcel Fässler (Switzerland), one of the three triumphant Le Mans 24 Hour race drivers, partners 2010 Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard (Germany) in Italy.

“Between Timo, Marcel, Tom and myself, we will be trying very hard to ensure that we have a good follow-up success story following Le Mans,” continued Allan.

“It’s a fantastic track which has changed a lot since I raced there back in 2002. It has always been undulating but nowadays it has a long straight. Coping with slower “traffic’ will be challenging because the track is narrow while the corners lead into each other.

“We will need to find a good balance for the R18 TDI between top speed and downforce. It will also be hard on the brakes because there are some big stopping zones which can create overtaking opportunities.”

“This is only my third ever two-driver race sharing a car with Tom. The last time we finished second in China last November – less than five seconds from the win. We’re both keen to make sure we get a victory on the scoreboard but it’s going to be a tough race.”

The Imola Six Hours marks the third race for the Audi R18 TDI which made its race début less than two months ago. Having claimed pole-position on its race début at Spa (7 May), the 3.7-litre turbo diesel engined Coupé scored a “pole”, fastest race lap and race win in its second race, the Le Mans 24 Hours (11-12 Jun), to chalk up the German manufacturer’s 10th Le Mans race win in 13 years. 

*ILMC Classifications (after three rounds):*
Manufacturers – LM P1: 1. Peugeot, 103pts; 2. Audi, 69pts; 3. Aston Martin, 0.

Teams – LM P1: 1. Audi Sport Team Joest; 50pts. 2. Peugeot Sport, 49pts; 3. Team Oreca Matmut, 34pts.

*Provisional timetable:*
Friday 1 July: 1215-1345 Practice 1; 1630-1800 Practice 2.

Saturday 2 July: 0855-0955 Practice 3; 1425-1445 Qualifying.

Sunday 3 July: 0900-0920 Warm-up; 1200-1800 Race.

* Local times


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