Home » Blog » Allan's Blog » Busy, busy, busy... Nurburgring prospects... Dindo & I determined to claim LMS win...
30 July 2008 | Posted in Allan's Blog
You may have thought I've been sitting at home since Le Mans with my feet up waiting for my next race at the Nürburgring. We'll you'd be wrong - big time.
It's been a wee whirlwind tour of various countries - in fact last weekend was the first one I've actually sat down at home for any great length of time since immediately after the 24 hour race. My mom came over from Scotland and spent some time with us in Monaco. I've also been back to Dalbeattie High School for its Awards evening. Having won the title last year, the school finished runners-up in the UK Formula Schools Model Car Championship. A glo-plug issue in the second heat cost them the title on this occasion.
The awards evening was interesting. It involved the entire school and I wasn't aware that the school curriculum is so wide. The school has a motorsport engineering course starting. Additionally a Chinese course which is apparently the only school in the south of Scotland to do this. There was some impressive music from bands - not the brass variety I hasten to add, confirming to me that it's a very lively and proactive school. Certainly different to when I was buzzing around as a 14-year-old I can tell you.
From Scotland I went straight to the DTM race at the Norisring - possibly the best DTM race on the calendar - it's unbelievably spectacular and is Audi's 'home' race. Many AUDI AG Board members and workforce from nearby Ingolstadt were present. It was a hard fought race with Audi unfortunately unable to win but we retained the championship lead.
Tom K, who was racing at the Norisring, and I then met up with Dindo at Ingolstadt the following day to do a photoshoot with the Audi TT TDI - a diesel engined TT 'showcasing' the technology we've used to win Le Mans with over the past three years.
Next stop was back in the UK for a Unipart event - one of my personal sponsors. I was in Birmingham for a karting event, one of a series that we do all around the UK and are becoming extremely popular within the Unipart community. Although I've visited the outskirts of Birmingham for the annual Autosport International Show at the National Exhibition Centre out near the airport, I hadn't actually been in to Birmingham city centre since 1990 when I raced on the streets there in the Super Prix so that prompted some memories.
The next day I drove down, or I guess that should read 'posed' down to Silverstone as I was driving an Audi R8 - very, very nice - to see some old friends at the British Grand Prix. The previous day, my fellow countryman had confirmed his retirement from Formula One at the end of this season so the papers were full of the news about DC. He started racing at the same time as me and we were both from the same part of the south of Scotland. David is retiring from F1 but I don't think he's out of the motorsport game for good. He'll be involved in something or other.
After Silverstone, I headed to Japan - you see, I told you I'd been busy! Japan was very interesting. We were at Fuji. You look at the old circuit there and you think Daytona or Monza, because its banking is incredibly steep and aggressive. Thankfully we were using the new track for the launch over there of the Audi R8 and RS6 and so I had the hard job of blasting an R8 around the track for three days - it's a tough life but someone has to do it!
From Japan, I went straight to Goodwood for just one day at the
fabulous Festival of Speed. Funnily enough I was driving an Audi R8 up the hill in the Supercar category. I enjoyed a tremendous dinner with three-time Indy winner Bobby Unser but also had chats with many, many other interesting people including Monaco neighbour Troy Corser, Damon Hill and of course Lord March who I congratulated on staging yet another tremendous event.
Lord March became a "Key Figure" of the MSA's Go Motorsport campaign, a new initiative launched just prior to Le Mans - of which I'm an Ambassador - alongside the Let's Go Karting programme where anyone can have a go for £5 - check out the website (http://www.letsgokarting.net/) for venues throughout the UK. There's no better opportunity to get into motorsport currently available.
As well as Lord March, Murray Walker is also a "Key Figure" in the Go Motorsport programme (http://www.gomotorsport.net/en-GB/default.html). Murray is someone that I remember from many years ago, not only as a F1 voice on television but in 1986 he came along to a karting Super One Final at Rye House. Even in those days he was a legend so do have him commentating there was unbelievable. He was even walking around the track at 7.45am, walking around the paddock and getting to know the drivers - such a consummate professional.
It was nice to head home after all of this travelling but was confronted with a very, very odd experience of watching Dindo Capello racing on television - without me! He was racing in Lime Rock with Emanuele Pirro, then a week later at Mid-Ohio, subbing for these two races for Frankie Biela. It was really quite odd to listen to Dindo on the radio and watching on TV and for me not to be actively involved in the race. Afterall, I've raced with my Italian buddy for three consecutive seasons. But I'm really looking forward to teaming back up with him at the Nürburgring and getting our LMS monkey off our backs. We've been competitive in the previous three races but have been unable to win a race.
I did a bit of testing and then spent a rather pleasant weekend driving around in a Lamborghini with a journalist. Delightful. Then it was back to Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm where Audi had two big events at its factories. The production car workforce is so in tune with what is going on with regards the motorsport programme. It was really nice to receive such support from them.
Looking forward to August, I've got a week or so before I start to really focus in Nürburgring. The last time I raced there we finished a very close second in 2005 having won there with Audi UK 12 months earlier. In 2004, we had rain, it was bitterly cold, changeable weather conditions. In 2005, it was like being in the South of France in mid-July. It just goes to show, especially having watched last weekend's rain-affected DTM race, that you just never ever know what the weather will be like at the Nürburgring from one minute to the next. There could be a big black cloud or the sun blazing down on you as you crest the hill. Ten minutes later it could be the opposite. Unbelievable.
Dindo and I want to make sure our Le Mans 24 race win momentum continues. Peugeot will want to get back to winning ways - especially on Audi's 'home' soil. It will be down to Dindo and I plus Rocky and Alex to underline that we've made big strides with the R10 TDI since the beginning of the year. We've made a lot of improvements; technically it's still going to continue right up until the end of the season. We know we've a good car, good team, good driver line-up, good strategy and everything else.
In the previous LMS races we've taken the charge to Peugeot. Not necessarily on sheer speed but race pace over the entire 1,000km duration. I honestly believe that Nürburgring could be the turning point in Audi's LMS campaign.
I don't think, in terms of the championship, Dindo and I can win it, but Dindo and I have the capability of scoring a couple of wins in the final two races and that's what we're going full out to do.
For the audio version of Allan's blog, go to http://www.allanmcnish.com/output/podcasts.asp
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