Allan McNish (47), the son of a Scottish BMW dealer, cut his racing teeth in karting before switching to cars. He is a three-time (1998, 2008/13) winner of the Le Mans 24 Hour with two different brands (Porsche, Audi) and the 2013 FIA World Endurance Champion. Allan is also a three-time winner of the American Le Mans Series, and has also competed with distinction in F3, F3000, DTM and F1.
Having retired from active competition in 2013, Allan was appointed to the dual role of Audi Motorsport Ambassador and Motorsport Consultant to the Board, with his current focus being Audi’s Formula E engagement. He lives in Monaco with wife Kelly and their two children.
He spoke exclusively to e-Racing during the recent Autosport International Motorsport Show.
What are your feelings about Audi’s exit from WEC?
Everybody, and I mean everybody in the
paddock, even the competition, was disappointed that ultimately the programme came to an end, because we need each other to have a successful and sustainable future. That’s why I say the competition as well, namely Toyota and Porsche.
But the reality was, that after 18 years, it was going to end at some point. It’s not the first time that’s happened to me: it happened when I won Le Mans with Porsche [1998]; they cancelled the programme at the end of the year.
It happened the following year after I’d re-signed for Porsche and they were going to go on in the 2000’s, then cancelled the programme. It happened to me managing a young driver [Jann Mardenborough] in the Nissan LMP1 programme, and, obviously now.
The fact is that manufacturers, like racing teams, come and go. We had a situation where Audi had become part of the
furniture, they had been in so long, and I think that’s why it was such a big shock to everybody. [But] it’s not that Audi has pulled out of motorsport, they’re increasingly active in a wider scale of things, with DTM, Formula E, and, now, World Rallycross.
A case of more than ‘mission accomplished’?
I think mission was accomplished back in 2002…
So ‘more than’?
Yeah, definitely. If you consider, back in 2002 they did the treble in 00, 01 and 02, then brought in the philosophies for gearbox [complete back end] changes, TFSI direct injection. Then there was the TDi, and then, if you look at the TDi, by the time
we’d come to 2008, apart from 2003 with Bentley [which “borrowed” some of sister company Audi’s technology], they won every single year.
They’d introduced two major technology changes with the Le Mans programme. So definitely a case of ‘mission accomplished’, but you could always accomplish more. But, it was thought this was not the right time to continue as there are other avenues to consider.
Q: How significant has their contribution been to WEC technology been, and, by extension, road cars?
A: I believe that without Audi WEC would not exist. I say that simply because on the day the entries closed for the first season [2012] - Peugeot, their main competitor in LMP1, pulled out. So there was only Audi. There were lots of question marks about whether Audi would pull out, whether WEC was [finished].
However they stepped up to the plate - that was principally down to Dr [Wofgang, Motorsport Director] Ulrich, standing up and saying he believed in it. He stood by the ACO and [CEO] Pierre Fillon, so they pushed forwards with Gerard Neveu, and that allowed [WEC] to start. No question about it: the long standing Audi had, plus the FIA and ACO allowed WEC to happen in the first place.
From what they’ve been able to gain on the circuit, specifically at Le Mans, like I said TFSI, TDi, and also the philosophies with the battery, initially it was with the lifeof hybrid battery technology, but they also acted king in another way, which was LED lighting, then laser lighting.
When I went to Le Mans for the first time, in fact when I won there in 1998, we were talking of qualifying times with qualifying tyres, of 3:35 and race times of 3:42 - now it’s 20 seconds a lap faster in the race. That’s all in the corners, because top speeds are the same.
So if you’re go through the Porsche Curves let’s say 30, 40 km/h faster than you were 20 years ago, then you need better lights, because ultimately DNA doesn’t change to make your eyes that much better in that time period. So you need a lot better lights.
That was really in conjunction with the lighting departments, and massively benefitted road cars.