Allan McNish’s third Le Mans 24 Hours triumph has been hailed by fellow Scot Marino Franchitti after he endured his own torrid time in the world’s greatest endurance event.
Amid the tragedy-scarred 90th anniversary event at the Circuit de la Sarthe, 34-year-old Franchitti’s Level 5 Motorsports outfit suffered a series of pit stop flash fires to their #33 HPD ARX 03b LMP 2 racer.
The team persisted with the engine issues throughout his stint from 2.30am to 6.15am before taking the decision to rest the car in the pits until the final lap, when team-mate Scott Tucker returned to the track to take it through the chequered flag.
Franchitti also lost a friend in Dane Allan Simonsen, who died after his Aston Martin hit the barrier at Tetre Rouge within minutes of the race start, and admitted to a rollercoaster of emotions after countryman McNish scooped victory in the #2 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro.
“When I got out of the car after my first stint and heard the tragic news about the loss of Allan (Simonsen), I was completely gutted,” said Franchitti.
“He was a great competitor and someone I had known for a long time. We had worked at race schools together at the start of our careers and had been team mates in sportscars too. We will certainly never forget him.”
He continued: “It was a tough race from the word go for the Level 5 crew, but I am massively proud of the efforts of the whole team and we are looking forward to getting back to racing in a couple of weeks in Lime Rock in the American Le Mans Series.
“The one thing to put a smile on my face was the victory for Allan McNish and his Audi team. I couldn’t be happier for him and he deserves this success very much.”
With three of the 10 races now complete, the Level 5 Motorsports drivers lock-out the top three places in the LMP2 driver standings. Team principal Scott Tucker, Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe are separated by just a handful of points.