Allan McNish earned himself a place in motorsport history when the Scotsman steered his diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI to a début race victory in the Sebring 12 Hour sportscar endurance race today.

Dumfries-born McNish (36) had claimed pole-position in qualifying but his Audi started the gruelling marathon from the pit lane.  Despite this initial setback, the McNish/Rinaldo Capello (I)/Tom Kristensen (Den) Audi became the first diesel-powered car to win an international sportscar race.
 
“We encountered a problem with the heat exchanger during the morning warm-up,” confirmed 2004 Sebring winner McNish.  “We changed the unit but didn’t have enough time to take up our grid spot so started at the back of the field at the green light and from the pit lane.” 

By mid-distance, though, McNish was over one lap ahead of the field in the blazing hot, Florida sunshine, and set a new lap record of almost of 123mph (1:48.373) before he handed over to Capello - after an energy-sapping three hour 12 minute driving stint in ambient temperatures of over 80°F - with under four hours to run in darkness.
 
Capello and Kristensen duly reeled off the final stages without incident, Kristensen taking the chequered flag four laps clear of the second-placed car to score a historic victory - Audi's seventh consecutive Sebring win.

Allan added:  “My long stint was mentally and physically tiring but all that is now forgotten - to make history in motorsport is truly exciting and I’m honoured to be involved in this diesel project.  Our car ran faultlessly after the scare at the start.” – 18 March 2006