RE: McNish Named 'Driver of the Decade'
Monday 17th November 2008
Scottish driver Allan McNish has been voted ‘Driver of the Decade’ in the American Le Mans Series. The Audi racer, who won the 2000, ’06 and ’07 ALMS championship titles, received the most votes cast by fans of the North American-based endurance sportscar series.
McNish Named 'Driver of the Decade'
Fans vote British driver into top spot
‘It is an accolade that has come completely out of the blue,’ said McNish. ‘Over 70 drivers, including all of the legendary names from the past 10 years of sportscar racing, were eligible and I’m honoured to have been chosen by the fans – especially as I’ve only completed three full seasons in the ALMS and just two races this year.’
Recently McNish managed to make up two laps in the first two hours and 45 minutes of the Petit Le Mans race after crashing his Audi R10 TDI on the pre-race reconnaissance lap. He went on to win the 1,000-mile race with Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro by 4.512 seconds.
Additionally McNish and regular co-driver Dindo Capello also collect the BRDC’s Silverstone /Le Mans Challenge – awarded to the driver(s) who achieved the highest combined finishing record in the combined results of the Silverstone LMS race and the Le Mans 24 hour race. McNish and Capello also steered their Audi R10 TDI to victory in the Autosport 1,000km of Silverstone (14 Sep).
Discussion
Was funny at Lemans this year when Peugeot were trying to get a three abreast shot on the first lap, Mcnish put the Audi in the middle of them and spoiled the party 
Heard from someone the other day that Audi are going to stop using diesel, is this true?
Heard from someone the other day that Audi are going to stop using diesel, is this true?
Edited by Lord Snot on Monday 17th November 11:53
he is a great driver and does a great job in the ALMS.Lord Snot said:
Heard from someone the other day that Audi are going to stop using diesel, is this true?
I hope so diesels are so boring to watch. Audi always try to get the upper hand in racing, some call it an unfair advantage, or just pushing the limit of the rules. First with the 4x4 in rallying, the Audi V8 in DTM, the A4 4x4 in BTCC/ETCC, now the diesels in Le Mans. All getting the advantage and winning, then when others join the party copying them or making something better and Audi start to lose they pack their bags and go somewhere else.They won't go to F1 because there are no loopholes left.
FourWheelDrift said:
Lord Snot said:
Heard from someone the other day that Audi are going to stop using diesel, is this true?
I hope so diesels are so boring to watch. Audi always try to get the upper hand in racing, some call it an unfair advantage, or just pushing the limit of the rules. First with the 4x4 in rallying, the Audi V8 in DTM, the A4 4x4 in BTCC/ETCC, now the diesels in Le Mans. All getting the advantage and winning, then when others join the party copying them or making something better and Audi start to lose they pack their bags and go somewhere else.They won't go to F1 because there are no loopholes left.
on another note, well done to mcnish, he is a fantastic driver!
FourWheelDrift said:
I hope so diesels are so boring to watch. Audi always try to get the upper hand in racing, some call it an unfair advantage, or just pushing the limit of the rules. First with the 4x4 in rallying, the Audi V8 in DTM, the A4 4x4 in BTCC/ETCC, now the diesels in Le Mans. All getting the advantage and winning, then when others join the party copying them or making something better and Audi start to lose they pack their bags and go somewhere else.
I'd call that very clever marketing. Get Audi's name in the headlines for a couple of years. When others catch up, move on and get the headlines elsewhere.Shame McNish never got a decent drive in F1.
Adrian W said:
The car still only won because the rules were heavily slanted towards the diesel. It's like an F1 team being allowed to use 4 litre engines while all of the others can only use 2.5s.
How does anyone know if that is correct? Is it not possible that Audi and Peugeot did a better job of making their cars and that their drivers are better?SamHH said:
Adrian W said:
The car still only won because the rules were heavily slanted towards the diesel. It's like an F1 team being allowed to use 4 litre engines while all of the others can only use 2.5s.
How does anyone know if that is correct? Is it not possible that Audi and Peugeot did a better job of making their cars and that their drivers are better?the dismals are given a huge advantage with the rules as they currently are.
Scuffers said:
cause it's basic physics...
the dismals are given a huge advantage with the rules as they currently are.
Can you explain how it's basic physics? What is the evidence that they have an advantage, other than the fact that the teams currently using diesel engines are beating the teams using petrol engines?the dismals are given a huge advantage with the rules as they currently are.
SamHH said:
Scuffers said:
cause it's basic physics...
the dismals are given a huge advantage with the rules as they currently are.
Can you explain how it's basic physics? What is the evidence that they have an advantage, other than the fact that the teams currently using diesel engines are beating the teams using petrol engines?the dismals are given a huge advantage with the rules as they currently are.
There is also the argument that only in the last 2 years has Audi actually had any sort of competition with remotely similar resources.
Please don't think i am trying to detract from Audi's achievements though!
rude-boy said:
It's all down to the way the rules are written. Without looking it all up i think the basics are that the Devdogs are given a set of rules that make them very slightly quicker in terms of power to weight and added to that the fact they are a touch more economical meaning that they can run iirc 1 lap more at LM (so 2-3 on a 'normal' track) more than the petrol cars.
How does anyone know that the fact that the diesel cars are quicker is because the rules give them an unfair advantage? Are there no other factors that could be making them quicker?Oh yes, the fact that they are the only cars with all but blank cheque books behind them has a lot to bear on their domination. That said the Lola/Aston and the LMP2 Porsches have given them a run for their money on a few occasions in the last year.
It is a combination of the rules being slightly biased I their favour and the teams in that class which is making them so dominant at the minute.
Do you not think Pug would have come in with a Petrol engine if they thought that they could make one quicker than the R10 within the rules?
It is a combination of the rules being slightly biased I their favour and the teams in that class which is making them so dominant at the minute.
Do you not think Pug would have come in with a Petrol engine if they thought that they could make one quicker than the R10 within the rules?
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