McNish, Michelins and a Monster Quick Audi

Friday, 26 August 2011 09:40

A few hours spent at Silverstone to soak up the Autosport 6 hour race preview this week was enjoyed by a handful of guests eager to enjoy the ride round the track starting from the new pits; that incidentally look smart, chic and almost Eurpoean.

The car: a GT 3 Spec Audi R8 V10 pushing out over 500bhp. The driver: a world champion racing driver which when you look at his results since 1997 the achievements “winner” and “podium” are the most common words you will find! He has been an official driver for Porsche, Toyota, Renault and since 2004 has been very much in a serious relationship with Audi. On top of the race wins are personality awards and he is also President of the Scottish Motor Racing Club. The purpose of this preview was for the Auto Sport 6 hours of Silverstone Le Mans Series British round taking place on the 9th to the 11th of September. Allan comes from a karting background originally but has been a master of endurance racing since 1997.

Before having a one to one chat I had the opportunity to be driven around Silverstone in this monster of a beast. I knew the car would not feel like a normal Audi R8 but this was almost like a Theme Park ride! The precision with which Allan took the corners and bumped over the kerbs to kiss the apex’s was thrilling, and the power with which the well engineered brakes slowed the car enough to do so was mind blowing. The Michelin Slicks combined with car and driver ability meant that this was probably the fastest I had ever been round Silverstone. I cannot compare it to my Porsche 924 racing car although people do ask me to. It’s in a completely different league. One thing that is the same though, is my enjoyment of being thrown around a race circuit. I giggled the entire way round.

Please now enjoy my questions and answers with this world famous racing driver:

What car do you drive on the road?

Audi RS5 and an Audi Q5 3.0 TDI

What tyres do you run on the road?

My RS5 has Michelins and the Q5 has whatever it came with, it’s brand new just out the factory.

How much trust is there between you and your mechanics?

Yes, I’m really lucky our guys are very good, it’s not just a job, and it’s a life for them. You get to know them very personally. Your life is in their hands, so if there is no trust there then there’s something seriously wrong.

What sort of racing do you prefer?

If it was pure enjoyment in a racing car then it would be karting. That is purely down to the driver. Higher level racing has such big teams there is more to influence the result. It is a pure form of motorsport and if racing wasn’t my career I would do karting for a hobby.

What advice would you give to someone new in motorsport?

Don’t jump ahead too early and not everything that everyone says is true. A lot of drivers try to take two steps when they can’t even walk yet. They look at the likes of Kimi Räikkönen who jumped from Renault to F1 but he is an exceptional talent and did a lot before behind the scenes.

Do you think there are any simulators that can help with driver training or do you think nothing beats the real thing?

Nothing beats the real thing, fact. Simulators are good but they are good for elements of the driving and learning. Some people are good at simulators and bad at the real thing, some are bad at simulators and won 7 world championships (to which we all laughed). It’s a sterile environment, doesn’t have the competition, doesn’t have the guys staring at you over the grid, no wind, not raining, new-tyre-all-the-time environment. If you crash you just restart the game. The new feedback rigs are getting better, a lot better. It’s so much closer than it ever was. I’ve just had one delivered to home.

Do you think your children will follow in your footsteps and become racers themselves?

No I don’t think so, the 5 year old is more interested in riding his bike and making paper aeroplanes. He modifies the planes to see if they fly differently so design is probably more likely to be something that he will go in to!

You need to be very fit for endurance racing, how do you stay fit?

It’s changing and changing quite quickly. When I started in 1997 one hour, tyres would last one hour; you had to do an hour. If you take Le Mans we did 3.47 last year in qualifying and 3.26 this year, same top speed, so it’s all cornering speed. One hour to three hours but with that time difference in the corners. You have to be physically fit to cope with that. I prefer running, I get bored on a bike. I do lower back work mainly because of the seating position. Martin Brundle drove for Red Bull he commented on how he had forgotten how much of the braking comes from your bum. If you can imagine 80 kilos on to the brake pedal, every 5 seconds for 3 hours. A lot of core stuff, neck strength. Not so much shoulder and arms as we have power steering although bigger tyres you can feel it.

How does your race car compare to a road car?

We have power steering, no ABS, similarities are minimal in terms of there is a big divide. One is the latest technology that Audi’s got, designed to run for 24 hours no more, designed to run flat out for 24 hours no more. The other one is designed to do hundreds of thousands of miles. Comfort is not really what our designers think about. Technology can be developed in the racing environment, for example TDI direct injection developed in the race car and was moved in to the road cars. Performance and economy are key development areas that cross over from track to road. We have traction control to cope with the power.

How important is your tyre choice in an endurance race?

Any race and on the road tyre choice is vital. It’s what you helps you corner on a race track which also stops you at the traffic lights.

Thank you to Allan for taking the time to answer my questions. The race itself is the most prestigious sports car race in Britain. The diesel powered sports prototypes capable of 210mph include Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola, Lotus, Peugeot, Porsche and others.

“The British round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone, will take place at the British grand Prix circuit on September 9-11. Tickets are available, priced from £12, by calling 0844 37 28 260 or visiting www.silverstone.co.uk.” By Rebecca Jackson RJ Internet Showroom