ALMS Lime Rock Race Report : allanmcnish.com

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ALMS Lime Rock Race Report

08 July 2007 | Posted in News

Defending American Le Mans Series champion Allan McNish increased his lead in this year's championship when the Scotsman scored a fifth class victory of the season in a turbulent race at Lime Rock yesterday (SAT).

McNish, 37, started his diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI from seventh position - first in LM P1 - on the 26-car grid after qualifying had been abandoned due to rain the previous day.

But McNish was in scintillating form around the undulating and bumpy, eight corner 1.53-mile track and snatched second place after 17mins. However, the Scotsman spun on 28mins at the first corner when attempting to overtake a slower car and dropped to fifth place.

Amazingly 10mins later at the same corner, McNish and the same backmarker, contacted each other again as Allan dived down the inside of the right hand bend. McNish resumed in eighth but pitted for a new nose, dropping a further two places and losing two laps.

"I made a good start to take third and inherited second place when Dyson was penalized for a jump start," recalled McNish who now enjoys a 22-point championship lead after six races in the 12-race series.

"I knew that it would be a difficult race and traffic would be an important factor. I encountered the same backmarker twice, at exactly the same point of the circuit. The first time I spun after locking up the rears without damage but the second time, when I again dived down the inside, he moved over on me and we made contact damaging the nose of the Audi which effectively put me out of contention for overall honours. Dindo [Capello] and I were fortunate to win our class in a car which was, unusually, difficult to drive."

McNish's drama had allowed the sister Audi to lead LM P1 but with almost one hour on the clock, Marco Werner crashed due to a punctured rear tyre to hand back the class lead to the McNish/Dindo Capello Audi. Le Mans 24 Hour race winners Werner and Emanuele Pirro ultimately finished fourth in LM P2 after a 54mins pit-stop for repairs in the 268-mile race, 165-minute race won by the Sascha Maassen/Ryan Briscoe (Porsche) - which marked the R10 TDI's first race at Lime Rock, the Connecticut circuit celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

McNish, who had won the corresponding Lime Rock race 12 months ago in the petrol-engined Audi R8’s final race, competes next at Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio, on 21 July.

Results and points

Lime Rock (USA), 7 July, American Le Mans Series round 6

1 Briscoe/Maassen (Porsche) 174 laps in 2h 45m 16.615s
2 Bernhard/Dumas (Porsche) + 7.481s
3 Brabham (Acura/Honda) + 16.095s
4 Dyson/Smith (Porsche) - 1 lap
5 Capello/McNish (Audi R10 TDI) - 1 lap (1st in LM P1)
...
23 Pirro/Werner (Audi R10 TDI) - 51 laps (4th in LM P1)

Positions after 6 of 12 rounds:
1 Capello and McNish, 122 points;
2 Pirro and Werner, 100;
3 C. Field, 87;
4 J. Field, 74;
5 Berry, 61.

Next race: Mid Ohio (USA), 21 July