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Le Mans / ALMS
IN THE COCKPIT: Allan McNish, Bahrain WEC
We had the car for pole, we had very good speed at the beginning of the race until the brake issues really took hold. It's a case of what might of been...
The No. 2 Audi of Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen fought brake issues in last weekend's FIA WEC Six Hours of Bahrain. (Photo: John Dagys)
The Bahrain circuit was extreme in every nature. Whether it was the circuit layout, in terms of the number of hairpins and tight corners, or the big long straight. It was all amplified by the heat, which affects the car, tires, engine... Everything, including the drivers.
We knew it was going to be a tough race, especially for Tom and I, with running two drivers. But I have to say that it was certainly tougher than we expected.
I don't think I have ever, in my life, drank as much, and sweated as much through the course of one race. When I got out of the car from the first stint, I had sweated consistently until the race finished. I must have drank 10 or 12 liters of fluid. It was really, really tough in that respect.
Some drivers went off to the medical center to have infusions. It was certainly one of those hard ones, but with the race coming up in Austin, Texas in 2013, we can probably think of more of the same!
But going back to this weekend, qualifying went well for us. First time back in the hybrid, there was a few things to get reacclimatized to. The driving style is slightly different for sure. You also have to work with the various processes, and it was the first time the mechanics and engineers on our car had actually been involved in the hybrid at all. It was a big learning curve for all of them.
To stick it on pole was very, very pleasing because they did a very good job of giving me a car that I could hustle around. Admittedly, it was not a perfect lap by any stretch. It was a bit of a scrappy one, to be honest. But it was scrappy enough to be quickest.
On that side of things, I was happy on Friday night and happy at the start as well. We got into the lead and was in a very good position, controlling the gap to Alex [Wurz] and trying not to abuse the tire because we knew at that time of day, the track temperature was nearly 48 degrees Celsius. With air temperatures up at 38 and 39, it was going to be a long tough race and very tough on the tires.
Unfortunately after three laps we developed a brake problem where the balance wound its way all the way to the rear and started locking rears into the corners and the brakes.
Every downshift, I was locking up the rear tires and that put extra temperature into the rear. It also put extra temperature into the race tires. Pressures went up and the problems amplified all the way through the first stint.
Unfortunately Alex got passed me in traffic and I let Marcel [Fassler] go because I was struggling so much with the balance at this point in that there was no point fighting in any way whatsoever.
We came in and immediately after one stint we had to change the nose, because as well as the brake problem, we had a light that had gone out. And by regulations, you have to change at the first available opportunity. That meant we were straight into the box after 50 minutes, effectively putting us out of real race contention.
We managed to get back on track. We single-stinted drivers all the way though, purely because of the temperatures and the heat. We were not in a position to do very much because of the brake issue that was there all the way from the start to the end of the race.
But I have to say that our pace towards the end of the race was very good. We were back into a bit more of a rhythm and routine with the car than what we should have had.
It was a really big disappointment because it was an opportunity missed. We had the car for pole, we had a very good speed at the beginning of the race for the first 10 or 15 minutes until the brake issues really took hold. It's a case of what might of been.
The bigger picture side of things, from the championship point of view, it gifted a victory in some ways to our sister car, which is great from an Audi 1-2 perspective. But from our personal point of view, it puts the gap up in the wrong direction when I think it could have so easily been that we were coming into the next race in Fuji leading.
However, that's not the case. We now have to knuckle down and fight back, hope that we have a clean run in Fuji and to bring a trophy back to Ingolstadt and not leave it in the hands of the Japanese.
~Allan
Allan McNish, a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, is a factory driver for Audi Sport, competing in this year's FIA World Endurance Championship. A three-time ALMS champion, McNish has also racked up multiple wins at Sebring and Petit Le Mans. For more information, visit allanmcnish.com and follow him on Twitter @AllanMcNish.
We knew it was going to be a tough race, especially for Tom and I, with running two drivers. But I have to say that it was certainly tougher than we expected.
I don't think I have ever, in my life, drank as much, and sweated as much through the course of one race. When I got out of the car from the first stint, I had sweated consistently until the race finished. I must have drank 10 or 12 liters of fluid. It was really, really tough in that respect.
Some drivers went off to the medical center to have infusions. It was certainly one of those hard ones, but with the race coming up in Austin, Texas in 2013, we can probably think of more of the same!
But going back to this weekend, qualifying went well for us. First time back in the hybrid, there was a few things to get reacclimatized to. The driving style is slightly different for sure. You also have to work with the various processes, and it was the first time the mechanics and engineers on our car had actually been involved in the hybrid at all. It was a big learning curve for all of them.
To stick it on pole was very, very pleasing because they did a very good job of giving me a car that I could hustle around. Admittedly, it was not a perfect lap by any stretch. It was a bit of a scrappy one, to be honest. But it was scrappy enough to be quickest.
On that side of things, I was happy on Friday night and happy at the start as well. We got into the lead and was in a very good position, controlling the gap to Alex [Wurz] and trying not to abuse the tire because we knew at that time of day, the track temperature was nearly 48 degrees Celsius. With air temperatures up at 38 and 39, it was going to be a long tough race and very tough on the tires.
Unfortunately after three laps we developed a brake problem where the balance wound its way all the way to the rear and started locking rears into the corners and the brakes.
Every downshift, I was locking up the rear tires and that put extra temperature into the rear. It also put extra temperature into the race tires. Pressures went up and the problems amplified all the way through the first stint.
Unfortunately Alex got passed me in traffic and I let Marcel [Fassler] go because I was struggling so much with the balance at this point in that there was no point fighting in any way whatsoever.
We came in and immediately after one stint we had to change the nose, because as well as the brake problem, we had a light that had gone out. And by regulations, you have to change at the first available opportunity. That meant we were straight into the box after 50 minutes, effectively putting us out of real race contention.
We managed to get back on track. We single-stinted drivers all the way though, purely because of the temperatures and the heat. We were not in a position to do very much because of the brake issue that was there all the way from the start to the end of the race.
But I have to say that our pace towards the end of the race was very good. We were back into a bit more of a rhythm and routine with the car than what we should have had.
It was a really big disappointment because it was an opportunity missed. We had the car for pole, we had a very good speed at the beginning of the race for the first 10 or 15 minutes until the brake issues really took hold. It's a case of what might of been.
The bigger picture side of things, from the championship point of view, it gifted a victory in some ways to our sister car, which is great from an Audi 1-2 perspective. But from our personal point of view, it puts the gap up in the wrong direction when I think it could have so easily been that we were coming into the next race in Fuji leading.
However, that's not the case. We now have to knuckle down and fight back, hope that we have a clean run in Fuji and to bring a trophy back to Ingolstadt and not leave it in the hands of the Japanese.
~Allan
Allan McNish, a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, is a factory driver for Audi Sport, competing in this year's FIA World Endurance Championship. A three-time ALMS champion, McNish has also racked up multiple wins at Sebring and Petit Le Mans. For more information, visit allanmcnish.com and follow him on Twitter @AllanMcNish.
Monterey
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