It was another busy year for Allan McNish is 2005, withs races in a variety of different championships around the world. Here, in the first part of his look back over last season, the Scot discusses Sebring, the start of the DTM season and the Le Mans 24 Hours...
"Well as we go into 2006, I thought we should have a quick look back at 2005.
"In the end, it was an extremely busy year, between Sebring, Le Mans, DTM and finally the Le Mans Endurance Series, I did 16 races. That coupled with other commitments mainly with sponsors Jewson and Alexandre, continued UK Sport events, an amazing desert test with the Dakar VW Touerag and last, but certainly not least, the birth of our son, it was, well, hectic to say the very least...
"It all started in Sebring, which was a precursor for what most 2005 races were going to be like. After twelve hours of hard wheel to wheel racing, we came up short by just over six seconds. The race was finally decided at the second last pit stop when I was delayed for a couple of precious seconds by a TV crew filming my team-mate and competitor for victory, Tom Kristensen’s exit from the pits - how ironic. This delay cost me the lead and ultimately back-to-back 12 Hours of Sebring Victories. However, it did set the tone for some fantastically close races throughout the season.
"On Monday after the 12 Hours, we had the opening of the new Champion Motors Audi dealership near Miami. This is significant because it became the largest in the world, taking top spot from a small dealer in Scotland, Glasgow Audi!!!! Now not many of you would have thought that but before Dave Maraj got his place up and running, more Audi’s were sold out of that one Scottish showroom than any other in the world. Cool eh!
