Allan McNish

Allan McNish (born 29 December 1969) is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland.<ref name=autogeneratedqos6>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013, as well as a three-time winner of the American Le Mans Series, which he last won in 2007. He won the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in 2013. He has also been a co-commentator and pundit for BBC Formula One coverage on TV, radio and online and was team principal of the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E team.

Early life

McNish was born in Dumfries, Scotland and played football while at school. He was a fan of Nottingham Forest and also supported his local club Queen of the South. It was not until McNish began in karting that he found something at which he excelled.<ref name=autogeneratedqos1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early career

McNish began his career in karting like fellow Dumfries and Galloway driver David Coulthard. McNish credited the start given to both of them and Dario Franchitti as being largely down to David Leslie senior and junior.<ref name=autogeneratedqos2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

McNish and Coulthard both were recognised with a McLaren/Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year award having moved up to car racing. In 1988 he won the Formula Vauxhall Lotus championship and in 1989 finished runner up to David Brabham in a close fought British Formula 3 Championship. During the late 1980s McNish shared a house with teammate Mika Häkkinen.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

McNish first drove a Formula 1 car, a McLaren, during a testing session at Estoril in mid-November 1989.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tipped as a future Formula One driver, he tested with both McLaren and Benetton, whilst also competing in F3000, then the recognised second tier of European motorsport, in 1990–1992. Whilst racing his first season in F3000, McNish suffered a crash at a race in Donington Park where a bystander was fatally injured.<ref name="independantmcnish">Template:Cite news</ref> He went on to finish fourth overall in the championship that season. Concentrating on Formula One opportunities meant he appeared in F3000 only once during 1994, at Pau.

When a Formula One drive failed to materialise, he returned to F3000 in 1995 with Paul Stewart Racing (run by the son of Sir Jackie Stewart who went on to form Stewart Grand Prix). While he was arguably the fastest driver of the year, a series of mishaps saw him well beaten by Super Nova drivers Vincenzo Sospiri and Ricardo Rosset in the title race. McNish's career appeared to stall in early 1996 after a deal to race in Formula Nippon fell through and Mark Blundell was preferred for a drive with the PacWest CART team. He also tested for Benetton during the year.

Sports cars

Despite devoting his career to the pursuit of a Formula One chance, McNish has become one of the world's most highly rated sportscar drivers. His sportscar career began in 1996 with Porsche, at a time when their 911 GT1 model revolutionised sportscar racing. With the factory team he took this car to victory in the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, partnered by Laurent Aïello and Stephane Ortelli. He subsequently appeared for Toyota and Audi in the race, and after losing a likely victory in the dying stages of the 2007 event, scored a second triumph in 2008 with Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello driving an Audi R10.<ref name="lemans2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has also raced with great success for Audi in the American Le Mans Series, winning the title with Dindo Capello in 2006 and 2007, and taking four overall victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring (2004, 2006, 2009 and 2012). At the 2011 Le Mans McNish destroyed the car in a spectacular crash early in the race and ended the race for Audi No. 3. And again at the 2012 Le Mans, McNish made a driving error and lost a first place by crashing the Audi No. 2 car a few hours before the finish.Template:Citation needed He also codrove the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Riley-Ford to a second-place finish at the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona.

In the 2000 American Le Mans Series season McNish set a track record for the full circuit configuration at Sears Point International Raceway.Template:Citation needed

Formula One

File:McNish toyota 2002.jpg

McNish's Toyota engine fails at the 2002 French Grand Prix.

McNish finally found an opening into Formula One in 2001, when the newly formed Toyota F1 team required a development driver. Given his link with Toyota through sportscars he was an obvious choice for this role, and after impressing in testing he was hired to race for the 2002 season. He did not score any points during the season's 17 races, and he and teammate Mika Salo were replaced with a new line-up of Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta for 2003. Salo had scored points for the team on their debut in Melbourne and McNish had very nearly done the same in the Malaysian Grand Prix, only for a pit lane mistake by the team to cost him the result. Both drivers were told of their replacement before Da Matta was announced, and ITV's Martin Brundle commented that "replacing Salo and McNish with Panis and A.N. Other" was not, in his view, a step forward.Template:Citation needed

McNish had a dramatic accident at the 130R corner while practising for Toyota's home race the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, but escaped serious injury. This led to the corner being reprofiled the following year.Template:Citation needed

After Formula One

File:McNish Audi R10.jpg

McNish driving an Audi R10 TDI at the 2008 1000km of Silverstone

In 2003 he was a test driver for Renault F1, also doing a little TV work for ITV, but the next year he returned to his successful sports car racing career, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring, combining this in 2005 with a venture into the highly competitive DTM (German Touring Car Championship), where he competed against the likes of former Formula One drivers Mika Häkkinen and Jean Alesi. He also won sportscar driver of the year awards from Autosport and Le Mans magazines and the (Jackie) Stewart Medal Award for services to Scottish motor sport. He was made the president of the Scottish Motor Racing Club at their annual prize giving and dinner in 2007, succeeding Stewart. McNish served as a pit reporter for ITV at the 2004 British Grand Prix standing in for Louise Goodman who was absent for event following the death of her partner John Walton days prior to that race.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3881683.stm</ref>

File:Allan-McNish-FormulaE-2019-Audi.jpg

McNish speaking about Audi eTron at the 2019 New York ePrix

In 2006, he continued racing with the Audi factory team and was part of the driving line-up which won the 12 Hours of Sebring in the new Audi R10 TDI diesel, setting pole position and breaking the lap record. In 2008, McNish won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Audi alongside Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello. It was his first win at la Sarthe since Template:24hLM. McNish won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans as well with Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval. In 2011 McNish suffered a catastrophic crash at the Le Mans race, one which left his car virtually disintegrated. However McNish walked away from the vehicle unharmed thanks largely due to the safety improvements that had been made in recent years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2013, McNish became a world champion as he won the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship alongside Kristensen and Duval.

Since Formula One has introduced the drivers' representative on the stewards panel at all Grands Prix, McNish has featured as the drivers' representative twice in the 2011 season, in Monaco and most recently in Hungary and on both occasions he has penalised the McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton for various transgressions. He has also appeared in a Scania video test driving their new R 730 V8.

On 17 December 2013, McNish announced his retirement from Audi Sport and from racing full-time. He has not ruled out racing individual events in the future.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After retiring he took on a role with Audi Sport, including liaising between the team's drivers and engineers, between the team and motorsport organisers, and driver development. He is also manager of racing driver Harry Tincknell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also works for BBC Sport as a commentator and pundit for their Formula One coverage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> McNish became team principal for Audi's Formula E team, starting for the 2017–18 season, following Audi's official take over of the Abt Sportsline run entry.

McNish is two-time winner of the Segrave Trophy (2009/2014), was awarded the BRDC Gold Star in 2014, and won the BARC Gold Medal in 2015.

Other formulae

As well as those above, McNish has also raced in the following racing series:

File:Allan McNish Arai helmet.jpg

McNish's helmet for 2013.

File:Hall of fame Le Mans-winners 2013.JPG

Walk of fame – Le Mans, Handprints and signatures from the winners of the 2013 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

• Karting
• Formula Ford
• Vauxhall Lotus
• British Formula 3
• North American GT
• FIA GT

Personal life

He lives in Monaco with his wife Kelly and their two children. Prior to his marriage, McNish's stag party in Dumfries was attended by Dario and Marino Franchitti and included watching a Queen of the South football match.<ref name=autogeneratedqos1 /> He speaks English and French.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1989	Pacific Racing	SIL	VAL	PAU	JER	PER	BRH	BIR	SPA	BUG	DIJ Template:Small		NC	0
1990	DAMS	DON Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	JER Template:Small	MNZ Template:Small	PER Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	BIR Template:Small	BUG Template:Small	NOG Template:Small	4th	26
1991	DAMS	VAL Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	JER Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	PER Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	BUG Template:Small	NOG Template:Small		16th	2
1992	3001 International	SIL Template:Small	PAU	CAT Template:Small	PER Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	ALB Template:Small	NOG	MAG		11th	8
1994	Vortex Motorsport	SIL	PAU Template:Small	CAT	PER	HOC	SPA	EST	MAG				NC	0
1995	Paul Stewart Racing	SIL Template:Small	CAT Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	PER Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	EST Template:Small	MAG Template:Small				7th	11
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Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Roock Racing	Template:Flagicon Stéphane Ortelli Template:Flagicon Karl Wendlinger	Porsche 911 GT1	GT1	8	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Porsche AG	Template:Flagicon Laurent Aïello Template:Flagicon Stéphane Ortelli	Porsche 911 GT1-98	GT1	351	1st	1st
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Toyota Motorsports Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Europe	Template:Flagicon Thierry Boutsen Template:Flagicon Ralf Kelleners	Toyota GT-One	LMGTP	173	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Laurent Aïello Template:Flagicon Stéphane Ortelli	Audi R8	LMP900	367	2nd	2nd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	Template:Flagicon Frank Biela Template:Flagicon Pierre Kaffer	Audi R8	LMP1	350	5th	5th
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon ADT Champion Racing	Template:Flagicon Frank Biela Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8	LMP1	364	3rd	3rd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R10 TDI	LMP1	367	3rd	3rd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R10 TDI	LMP1	262	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R10 TDI	LMP1	381	1st	1st
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R15 TDI	LMP1	376	3rd	3rd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R15 TDI plus	LMP1	394	3rd	3rd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R18 TDI	LMP1	14	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	LMP1	377	2nd	2nd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Loïc Duval	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	LMP1	348	1st	1st
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Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points	Ref
1999	Champion Racing	LMP	Porsche 911 GT1 Evo	Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6	SEB	ATL	MOS Template:Small	SON Template:Small	POR Template:Small	PET Template:Small	MON Template:Small	LSV Template:Small					25th	47	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2000	Audi Sport North America	LMP	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	SEB Template:Small			NÜR Template:Small	SON Template:Small	MOS Template:Small	TEX Template:Small	ROS Template:Small	PET Template:Small	MON Template:Small	LSV Template:Small	ADE Template:Small	1st	270	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Audi R8R			CHA Template:Small	SIL Template:Small
2004	Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	LMP1	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	SEB Template:Small	MID	LIM	SON	POR	MOS	AME	PET	MON				7th	26	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2005	ADT Champion Racing	LMP1	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	SEB Template:Small	ATL	MID	LIM	SON	POR	AME	MOS	PET	MON			10th	22	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2006	Audi Sport North America	LMP1	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small				UTA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	AME Template:Small	MOS Template:Small	PET Template:Small	MON Template:Small			1st	204	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8		TEX Template:Small	MID Template:Small	LIM Template:Small
2007	Audi Sport North America	LMP1	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	STP Template:Small	LNB Template:Small	TEX Template:Small	UTA Template:Small	LIM Template:Small	MID Template:Small	AME Template:Small	MOS Template:Small	DET Template:Small	PET Template:Small	MON Template:Small	1st	246	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2008	Audi Sport North America	LMP1	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	STP	LNB	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	DET	PET Template:Small	MON		8th	60	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2009	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R15 TDI	Audi 5.5L Turbo V10 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	STP	LNB	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	PET Template:Small	MON			10th	30	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2010	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R15 TDI plus	Audi 5.5L Turbo V10 (Diesel)	SEB	LNB	MON	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	PET Template:Small				NC	–	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2011	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R15 TDI plus	Audi 5.5L Turbo V10 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	LNB	LIM	MOS	MID	AME	BAL	MON					NC	–	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Audi R18 TDI	Audi 3.7L Turbo V6 (Diesel)									PET Template:Small
2012	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R18 TDI	Audi 3.7L Turbo V6 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	LNB	MON	LIM	MOS	MDO	AME	BAL	VIR	PET			NC	–	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2013	Audi Sport Team Joest	P1	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	Audi 3.7L Turbo V6 (Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	LNB	MON	LIM	MOS	AME	BAL	COTA	VIR	PET			NC	–	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
2000	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto	Audi R8	LMP	360	2nd	2nd
2004	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	Template:Flagicon Frank Biela Template:Flagicon Pierre Kaffer	Audi R8	LMP1	350	1st	1st
2005	Template:Flagicon ADT Champion Racing	Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro Template:Flagicon Frank Biela	Audi R8	LMP1	361	2nd	2nd
2006	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen	Audi R10 TDI	LMP1	349	1st	1st
2007	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen	Audi R10 TDI	LMP1	353	4th	2nd
2008	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport North America	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen	Audi R10 TDI	LMP1	351	3rd	1st
2009	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen	Audi R15 TDI	LMP1	383	1st	1st
2011	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen	Audi R15 TDI plus	LMP1	327	4th	4th
2012	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen	Audi R18 TDI	LMP1	325	1st	1st
2013	Template:Flagicon Audi Sport Team Joest	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensen Template:Flagicon Lucas di Grassi	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	P1	364	2nd	2nd
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Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
Template:F1	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota TF102	Toyota RVX-02 3.0 V10	AUS Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	EUR Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	FRA Template:Small†	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	19th	0
Template:F1	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault R23	Renault RS23 3.0 V10	AUS Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	EUR Template:Small	FRA								—	—
		Renault R23B												GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small	JPN Template:Small
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^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete DTM results

(key)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos	Points
2005	Abt Sportsline	Audi A4 DTM 2005	HOC Template:Small	LAU Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	BRN Template:Small	OSC Template:Small	NOR Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	ZAN Template:Small	LAU Template:Small	IST Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	10th	13
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Complete Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	Rank	Points
2004	Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	LMP1	Audi R8	Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8	MON Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	SPA Template:Small		2nd	28
2005	Audi PlayStation Team Oreca	LMP1	Audi R8	Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8	SPA Template:Small	MON Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	IST Template:Small	3rd	26
2008	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R10	Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	CAT Template:Small	MON Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	5th	27
2010	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R15 TDI plus	Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel)	CAS Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	ALG	HUN	SIL Template:Small	9th	45
2011	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R18 TDI	Audi TDI 3.7 L Turbo V6 (Diesel)	CAS	SPA Template:Small	IMO Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	EST	NC	0
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Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2012	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	Audi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel)	SEB Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	LMS Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	SÃO Template:Small	BHR Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SHA Template:Small	2nd	159
2013	Audi Sport Team Joest	LMP1	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	Audi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel)	SIL Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	LMS Template:Small	SÃO Template:Small	COA Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SHA Template:Small	BHR Template:Small	1st	162
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External links

• Allan McNish's official website
• Allan McNish's official blog
• Template:Usurped
• Profile – by FIA GT Championship official website