McNish back in region

MOTORSPORT sensation Allan McNish has been back on home soil, only days after finishing fourth in the Sebring 12 Hour endurance race in Florida.

The ‘Flying Scotsman’, who hails from Dumfries, had various business meetings to attend in Scotland as part of his presidency with the Scottish Motoring Racing Club.

But he spent the immediate days after the gruelling race on the track too as he tested the new Audi R18 TDI round the challenging circuit.

The ‘Evolution 2’ model, as it has been dubbed, is the result of previous test drive and wind tunnel tests with a particular focus on improved aerodynamic efficiency and cooling of the interior of its V6 engine.

And the cars, which have now been flown back to Audi Sport’s base in Ingolstadt, Germany to be dismantled and analysed, were put through four days of rigorous testing, clocking up thousands of miles to test vehicle set-up, aerodynamics, tyres, cooling and reliability.

McNish added: “It was good to get more mileage on the Audi R18. It was hot and humid every day while the Sebring race track is very punishing on machinery.

“It was essentially the first time Audi Sport had been testing in a more ‘race’ environment.

“The R18 worked well in terms of from the driving, the reactions and also from the cooling inside the car.

“I am now looking forward to getting the R18 onto the Le Mans circuit and to the test day. That will give everyone a bit more of a feel for what it is going to be like on the La Sarthe circuit.”

McNish’s next outing will be the official Le Mans 24 Hours one-day ‘test’ on April 24 prior to the R18’s race debut in the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on May 7.



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