by Russell Atkins
TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE
Allan McNish will be taking part in his ninth Le Mans 24 Hours this coming weekend, having tasted glory in the round-the-clock French classic dubbed 'the hardest race in the world' at only his second attempt back in 1998.
Since then the Scottish ex-F1 ace has been invariably on the pace at La Sarthe, but just as invariably out of luck, living proof of Le Mans' reputation for being a cruel mistress, and his retirement from the 2007 edition – whilst holding an unchallenged lead along with Audi team-mates Tom Kristensen and 'Dindo' Capello – was arguably the cruellest of all. In 2008, the 38-year-old told
Crash.net Radio, he is out for payback…
Q:
Allan, the Le Mans 24 Hours is now only a matter of days away. Are you feeling excited, nervous..?
Allan McNish:
Nervous anticipation, because Le Mans is such a unique race and such a big event on the world stage that you're always a little bit excited about going there, but I think with the pre-test being washed out nobody really knows who is capable of what. You got some sort of glimpse and a little bit of a sniff maybe of somebody's performance, but the reality is we don't know what the full picture is, and that creates a certain nervousness as well.
In a way it actually heightens the senses just before you go into the race weekend, and I think there's a lot to be played out in the first couple of qualifying sessions; not for qualifying itself, but to see whether people can get a handle on how to set up the cars very quickly, because there's such limited time now on-track really before the race.
Q:
You mention Le Mans being a unique event obviously; what is it for you that makes it so special?
AM:
I did not appreciate what Le Mans was all about until I went there, and the first time I went there I stood at the end of the pit-lane and watched all the cars going out for Wednesday night practice. I was really taken aback by the old grandstands in front, the power of all the cars going past, the history of it and, funnily enough, the
Le Mans film which came flooding back a little bit. Then I understood a bit.
When I won a year later and stood on the top step of the podium, that's when I realised what it meant in motorsport, and how far-flung it was – especially in countries like Japan or America – what it really meant to the people over there as well. At the end of the day, like I said it had a film made about it, so it has always been a big and prestigious event, and now I think it's also one of the most competitive times for it. It's coming back into its heyday.
Q:
You talked about your victory at La Sarthe, on only your second appearance there in 1998; with 2008 marking the ten-year anniversary of that, does it perhaps give you any extra motivation this time around?
AM:
I don't think I need any more motivation to be honest with you – I probably need to reduce it! It's been ten years, you're right, and every year since then when I've raced there – because I was in Formula 1 for a few years, so I missed a couple – I've always been with a car that's been at the front and I've always led. Every time we've gone out of the race it's been obviously very frustrating and annoying, especially last year, because last year we did everything perfectly. We drove what I think was a fantastic race, the strategy from the team was very good, the pit-stops were excellent and then when the wheel nut came off when we were three-and-a-half laps in the lead – on sheer pace, I have to say, because the car that was second didn't have any technical troubles – it was a very, very real reminder of how hard it is to win Le Mans.
