# McNish Moral Victor of Petit Le Mans Race as Audi Barely Miss Out on 10th Consecutive Race Win



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Britain’s Allan McNish (pictured) came tantalisingly close to achieving his fifth Petit Le Mans race victory at Road Atlanta on Saturday (26 Sep) and maintaining Audi’s 100% winning record in the annual American sportscar endurance race since the German manufacturer’s debut in 2000.
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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: McNish Moral Victor of Petit Le Mans Race as Audi Barely Miss Out ... ([email protected])*

I don't know. I think Audi Sport would benefit greatly from running a full schedule. There's a big learning curve with any new car and it would probably help a lot.


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## xtinct (Oct 9, 2003)

I went to the race was not happy with the finish,McNish spinned out on the last lap before they stop the race because of rain ?


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: (xtinct)*

It's such an unfortunate ending.


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## clarkma5 (Mar 2, 2002)

*Re: ([email protected])*

hahaha, you're kidding with this headline right? Look, I love Audi, but they lost the race and that's how motorsport happens. It's what happens now that Peugeot's got their act together and Audi has been running just a handful of races. They're behind. OK, if the race hadn't been red-flagged, Audi MAY have won it, but it was red flagged and they didn't, case closed. None of this "Moral Victory" crap, please.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: (clarkma5)*

Did you even watch the race? McNish nearly lapped both Peugeots in the first hour! Why? Because the Peugeot guys made the same mistakes that cost them Le Mans in '08-setting up their cars for dry, hot weather, instead of cool, overcast weather with changing wet/dry conditions. It also helps that the R15 was designed with the ALMS' circuits in mind-it may've cost Audi at Le Mans, but it helped them out in race trim at PLM.
Simple bad luck cost Audi a shot at PLM-the deteriorating weather causing both of Allan's spins(and those of everyone one else, including one of the 908s nearly beaching itself at turn 10 in it's pit-in lap before the yellow for the downpour).
I wish that Audi would run more races, but those plans for 2010 are on hold right now-Autosport's website reports that a lack of clarity over the ACO's proposed 2010 rules(namely over symmetrcial wings) and other regulations changes(which the ACO has partly rescended and pushed back to 2011) is making things difficult for Audi to decide what to do with their sportscar program.
And it doesn't help that IMSA's struggling over how to equalize the LMP1 and LMP2 cars for the combined LMP class next year(one hopes that the ALMS would return to the 2008 formula-800kgs and larger air restrictors for LMP2s and LMP1s run to ACO regs aside from 85 vs 81 liter fuel tanks for diesels or 75-80 liter tanks for LMP2s). Audi it seems wants to do more races next year-including possibly most of or all of the ALMS events, but a lack of clarity over proposed rules changes may make them do like Aston Martin and likely Peugeot-sit out most of 2010, and concentrate on 2011.


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## hghpsigti (Nov 13, 2002)

*Re: McNish Moral Victor of Petit Le Mans Race as Audi Barely Miss Out ... ([email protected])*

moral victory = lost
I am happy for peugeot......mcnish messed up....no one said peugeot had a moral victory when they mssed up at lemans and plm last year.
its good to see audi struggling (finally)


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: McNish Moral Victor of Petit Le Mans Race as Audi Barely Miss Out ... (hghpsigti)*

Well, Peugeot got taken out by stuff that was in their control-bad pit calls and at PLM last year, they sent an ex-F1 driver(and not a particualry good one at that) with little sports car experience into the dark against McNish and Werner-both of whom knew Road Atlanta like the back of their hand.
An increasingly cold and greasy racetrack under full course yellow(and hence the laws of physics) isn't something that one could control-one could say that Allan would've been screwed either way, because the LMP cars have wide tires and little mass-which tends to make them into boats instead of race cars unless they're moving at high enough speeds for areo downforce to take over-but you have to be going at least 80-90mph for that to happen-and you're only doing 35-40 behind the pace car. Last year(when he won), McNish early in the race radioed to his team that the pace car going pit road speed limit under yellow was too slow, and her was losing tire temperatue-and that was an 85 degree day.
And you should remember that Peugeot did a fairly good job of trying to screw themselves out of PLM this year, too. Both cars were nearly lapped before the one hour mark because they used the same set up that they used at Le Mans in '08-and one that didn't do diddly for them in the wet. And I don't get Peugeot's excuse about using the'08 rain tires-Audi had the same tires the the Peugeots had, and they worked just fine. Maybe it's because Audi is used to running in the ALMS-where intermediate rain tires have been banned(at the teams' and tire makers' request and input) since the end of 2004. At LM and in the LMS, intermediates are still legal. And on their in lap, both Peugeot's almost binned it in the rain trying to get to the pits.
Peugeot just got lucky, as anyone who watched the race can atest to, and many of those same people can atest to luck not being on Audi's side as far as their LMP program since Sebring-from rained out test, to a disasterous by standards Le Mans, to rains, accidents, and the red flag happening at the wrong time.


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