Audi remain on top but McNish is down

Audi made it through the downpour, confusion and tension of the Le Mans 24-hour race, but even the loyal team-man in Allan McNish had to concede bittersweet emotions.

The British driver and his partners in the No 2 Audi R10, the Italian Rinaldo Capello and Denmark's Tom Kristensen, had led from the first chicane until breakfast time yesterday with a consummate display of patient consistency.

But then, as McNish spooned in his muesli, he watched television pictures of an Audi crashing at the 170mph Indianapolis corner after its rear left wheel had come off. The emergence of Capello's helmet confirmed his worst fears. His race was over.

The other surviving Audi, driven by last year's winners, Italy's Emanuele Pirro and the Germans Frank Biela and Marco Werner, inherited a lead they were able to increaseand consolidate. They tiptoed through the wet closing stages with 10 laps in hand.

The new diesel-powered Peugeots, outpaced but far from disgraced, struggled through those final two hours. One of them had to retire, but the other did reach the finishing line in second place.

Pescarolo, as familiar here as camp sites, Union Jacks and frites, stuck to their task and took third and fourth places.

For now, though, Le Mans remains Audi's domain. The company had its seventh win in the last eight years and the three triumphant drivers celebrated with well practised symmetry. Between them they have 13 wins here. However, Pirro admitted: "I was glad to see the flag. It was very difficult for us. We had a big responsibility because we were the only Audi left for the last nine hours. They were the longest hours I have ever known.

"I always say the main competition at Le Mans is the circuit," he added. "You have to have luck. You can lose it many times but there's little you can do to win it. I have won it five times and I know the only smile that counts is the smile at the end.''

McNish could be forgiven a little envy. He had been laid low by food poisoning during the day on Saturday but led the team's charge through the long night. Five times he set the fastest lap of the race. But his experience at Le Mans since his only win, in 1998, has become a catalogue of misfortune.

McNish said: "I saw an Audi crash and wasn't sure at first which one it was. When I saw Dindo's helmet I knew it was ours. When he walked away I could see he was OK, but it meant our race was over. I just felt hollow. I still do, because we deserved to win.

"I've had some painful disappointments, but this was much more cruel because of the dominant manner in which we were leading. We did everything perfectly and built up a three-lap lead through our sheer pace. I don't think we made a single mistake between us.

He added: "I was surprised not only that we were so much faster than Peugeot but also how much faster than our sister car we were. It was tricky at the beginning, when the track was part wet, part dry, but we were able to keep pulling away. I'm feeling down, but that will last only until the next race.''

You sense, alas, that some of the frustration will linger until Le Mans next year, which will mark the 10th anniversary of McNish's win with Porsche.

"I'll be back and I'm confident I'll win the race again,'' the 37-year-old Scot said. "You can't consistently have this level of performance and not have it come around and reward you.

"I wouldn't keep coming back if I didn't believe I was going to win again. It's too much pain, too much emotion, too much effort, too much a part of your life. I'm pleased our sister car has won, but it is a bittersweet feeling."

Despite the tangled emotions, McNish sees a bright future for sports cars racing, if a more difficult one for Audi. "Peugeot have done a superb job to finish second in their first race with this new car, though I'm sure they came to win," he said. " Their pace suggests they will be a real threat next year. Le Mans will be healthy with a good old French team, and sports car racing in general healthier. We all want competition and I'm sure there will be more manufacturers coming in.''

Capello had set the tone for the No 2 Audi, darting in front as Sébastien Bourdais in one of the Peugeots slid wide and stretching out ahead at the rest. Kristensen, winner of the race a record seven times, proved he had recovered from the effects of an accident in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) racing by sustaining the car's progress.

Heavy showers and subsequent moments of chaos inevitably forced safety-car periods which interrupted the flow of the race, but nothing, it seemed, could deflect the leading car from its course. McNish eventually took over and, doubtless aided in his recovery from illness by the performance of his colleagues, went like the wind.

Audi's third car, driven by the young German Mike Rockenfeller careered out of the race on Saturday, but the other two Audis appeared in control as Peugeot ran into problems.

Capello's misfortune changed the atmosphere markedly. Suddenly Audi were down to one car and the tension heightened. Eventually, though, the old hands brought the car home safely and the natural order was reaffirmed.

Britain's Aston Martin broke the hold of the American Corvette at the third attempt in the GT1 class, to the delight of thousands of British supporters huddled under umbrellas.

Australia's David Brabham, the son of Sir Jack, Rickard Rydell, of Sweden, and Darren Turner, of Great Britain, took the honours after the other Aston Martin, Johnny Herbert's 007, clipped a wall and dropped out of contention.

David Richards, Aston's team principal, said: "It's a great day for Aston Martin and for everyone involved with the team and for all those who have supported us. We've got a few more things to achieve at Le Mans, including an outright win," he added.

The prospect of an Aston Martin prototype provides a tantalising postscript to yet another absorbing Le Mans.

Circuit de la Sarthe (13.629km): 1 F Biela (Ger), M Werner (Ger), E Pirro (It) Audi No 1, 369 laps completed; 2 P Lamy (Por), S Sarrazin (Fr), S Bourdais (Fr) Peugeot No 8, 359 laps; 3 E Collard, J-C Boullion, R Dumas (Fr) Pescarolo Judd No 16, 357 laps; 4 J Barbosa (Por), S Hall (GB), M Short (GB) Pescarolo Judd No 18, 347 laps; 5 D Brabham (Aus), R Rydell (Swe), D Turner (GB) Aston Martin No 009, 342 laps; 6 J O'Connell (US), J Magnussen (Den), R Fellows (Can) Corvette No 63, 342 laps; 7 C Bouchut (Fr), F Gollin (It), C Elgaard (Den) Aston Martin No 008, 340 laps; 8 A Yoong (Malay), S Mucke (Ger), J Charouz (Cz Rep) Lola Judd No 15, 337 laps; 9 T Enge (Cz Rep), J Herbert (GB), P Kox (Net) Aston Martin No 007, 337 laps; 10 L Groppi, N Prost, J-P Belloc (Fr) Saleen No 54, 336 laps.

Interesting? Click here to explore further