Allan McNish - Road Atlanta

Allan McNish starts the annual Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta on Saturday (6 Oct) knowing he can clinch his third American Le Mans Series title in the gruelling 1,000-mile race.

The 37-year-old Scotsman drives his diesel-engined Audi in the penultimate round of the 12-race series aiming to score an eighth LM P1 class victory of the season but also intent on winning the prestigious race outright for a second consecutive year.

McNish, an ALMS champion in 2000 & ’06, commented: “I’ve won the race twice before and I’m hoping it’ll remain a happy hunting ground for me this time. My co-driver Dindo Capello and I start the race with a 22-point championship lead and a class win at Petit will wrap up the title for us one race early.

“I’ve always enjoyed the Petit Le Mans race which is, as the name suggests, a ‘mini’ Le Mans and is one of my favourite events. That’s in terms of the undulating and picturesque Atlanta track which is fast and flowing plus the tremendous atmosphere.

“The circuit, which has been resurfaced since last year’s race, is ideally suited to our R10 TDI. But I also believe, as has been the case all season, the LM P2 class Porsche and Acura sportscars will be very strong.”

Audi made its “Petit” début in 2000 and has won the race every year since – with McNish’s Italian co-driver victorious in 2000 and ’06 with McNish plus 2002.

Allan added: “The race is 1,000-miles in duration and will last over nine hours. It’s likely honours won’t be decided until the final stages. Reliability has always been a strong factor for Audi and this will be an important key again.

“I competed in the first ‘Petit’ in 1998 and the event has grown tremendously over the years with a crowd of over 90,000 attending last year’s race. It’s a physical and demanding race because I’ll be in the car for 2-3hrs, out for Dindo’s 2-3hr stint, then back in the car for another 2-3hrs.

“That means you must keep 100% focussed and there are no particularly long straights, unlike at Le Mans, when you can take a deep breath, relax and let things calm down for a moment or two.”

McNish is expected to qualify the #1 Audi Sport North America R10 TDI in Friday’s 25-minute time trials (20.25 BST) with the Dumfries-born ace predicting his near 130mph qualifying lap record from 2000 will be broken.

The Petit Le Mans is considered to be the “third” most important endurance sportscar race behind the Le Mans 24 Hours and ALMS season-opening Sebring 12 Hour race – both races won by the “sister” Audi R10 TDI of regular drivers Emanuele Pirro (Italy) and Marco Werner (Germany) plus Frank Biela (Germany). Pirro and Werner have three Petit wins between them.

The 10th Petit Le Mans race gets underway at 16.45 (BST) on Saturday 6 October.