Back in the (R8) saddle again:
Allan McNish of Audi Sport North America
by Kate Shaw
Photos courtesy Keith D. Rizzo
RELIANT PARK, Texas (May 11, 2006) — Allan McNish is enjoying his weekend at the Grand Prix of Houston, with the challenges of the R8 and a brand new track only adding to the fun. “[ALMS] were the first cars out on the track this morning,” he said, “and because there hadn’t been any rubber laid down save what we did, the track was dusty and slick for the first session. And of course being a street course, it has a lot of changes in surface, which made the practice session entertaining. Still, the course was better than we expected, and it’ll be even better as the weekend goes along and the track surface comes in.” Being in the R8 with the extra weight is also a challenge this weekend. “It’s a lot of extra mass to move,” he said, “and because the car wants to go round the corner the same way, it’s much harder on the tires having that much extra weight to handle. It will be difficult competing with the new Dyson cars and even the old ones. But it’s sure to be interesting.”

A few changes to the configuration were made overnight, which the Champ Car drivers had mentioned but McNish explained. “The final turn has been resculpted from a 90 degree turn with tires, to something more like Turn 4 at Indy – now if you go in, you’ll slide along the wall and not just go straight in. The chicane at Turn 2 was made slower, as the one they had put in to slow the cars down was being taken flat out anyway! All in all it didn’t make a major difference, but it will be something else to learn.”

No doubt the most interesting discussion of the interview was “compare and contrast” of the R10 and the R8, as McNish has had a chance to work on the two in race trim now. “The big change in the R8 is of course the FSI engine,” he said, “but essentially the R8 is the same car as it was in 2000, with updates to keep it up to current standards. The general lines of the R10 make it clear that it and the R8 are from the same family, but many refinements have been made to the R10 that make it much more a driver’s car. For example, there are many more switches and items on the steering wheel where they are handy to us. From a driving point of view, having a V12 diesel engine instead of the V8 gasoline powered model has greatly changed the way the car behaves and the way it attacks the corners.”

One thing I had been curious about was whether the near-absence of sound in the R10 had affected the drivers’ way of handling their new diesel powered machine.

“It makes more difference than you’d think,” he agreed. “You don’t really realize how much you depend on the acoustics as a reference factor, until you don’t have them there. And at around 200k (about 125 mph) the wind noise is louder than the engine note! It was quite a challenge at first but once you’ve worked with it, you adjust your way of dealing with it.”

Because he’d driven in the DTM, a very popular series in Europe, I asked him if perhaps the ALMS could pick up a few tips from the way they promote their races. On the contrary, said McNish, Europe could possibly learn from the ALMS!

“The Germans,” he explained, “didn’t care too much about Formula One until Michael Schumacher started winning; the DTM was like their version of NASCAR and that is the way they promoted themselves, but it doesn’t necessarily carry over so well into Europe proper. They have a very professional attitude to how they set out the product and lay out the paddocks, things like that, it’s true.

“But the ALMS arguably treats its fans better. For one major example, the mandatory driver autograph sessions in the ALMS. The drivers are available at scheduled times for the benefit of the fans, and frankly that takes the pressure off the drivers at other times. In the DTM, if a fan wants an autograph he just has to capture the driver wherever he finds him, so when you step out in public you’re engulfed! I would say that in Europe, the fans are tolerated rather than encouraged. Dr. Panoz has got it exactly right when he says this series is “for the fans” – because if the fans aren’t entertained and encouraged, they won’t come back, and then where am I? Back in Scotland selling used cars!”

And he gave an illustration of that contrast from his own experience that I think tells the story best.

“When I was ten,” he said, “my dad won a trip to Monaco and we went off to the Grand Prix. I got into the Renault tent and spied Jean-Pierre Jaboulle and ran up to him to get an autograph – and he briskly brushed me off! I was a ten year old kid and he didn’t have time for me at all. And I’m 36 now and I still feel it.

“Well, a few years ago I was at the Petit Le Mans and we were shooting some promo shots in the tunnel – it sounds strange but it wasn’t really! – and a little boy and his father came up to watch us. Because of the way I had been treated, I took the time to speak with them. And the father wrote a very nice note to my website telling me that this was his son’s first race and that they’d been out on a father and son weekend, and thanking me for the time I spent with them. He said it meant a lot to his son. Because of the way I had been treated when I was a kid in Europe, I take the time to meet with fans or, if I can’t do it right then I will see them later on. This is something the American Le Mans Series has done right from the start: they have built this series around the fans.”

Because it’s a World Cup year, as a final question I asked Allan if he is planning to follow the World Cup this year, and he said of course, “although as an interested spectator this year – interested in seeing if England lose -- as Scotland has elected not to participate,” a diplomatic way of putting it, indeed.

ALMS qualifying will take place this evening in preparation for tomorrow night’s race. We have no doubt that Audi Sport North America will put on a great show for us all. We are glad to have them back with us for 2006 and look forward to plenty of good racing!