McNish chases second Le Mans title.

Allan McNish will be looking to secure his second victory in the most famous race of them all next weekend when the Scot returns France for the 73rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Scot will be part of the Champion Racing team for the event and will be alongside Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro in one of the hugely successful Audi R8s - the second one to be driven by ALMS champions JJ Lehto and Marco Werner and Dane Tom Kristensen, who will be going for a record breaking seventh Le Mans victory.

This years event is set to be the final Le Mans race for the R8, and McNish said he was determined to try and secure one final victory for one of the most successful sportscars of all time.

"With the Audi R8 and Champion Racing, we have a proven car and team package combined with an extremely strong, two-car driver line-up," McNish said. "Audi will race a new car next year at Le Mans and I'd love to give the Audi R8 a final victory send off at La Sarthe.

"[However] I think this year's Le Mans is going to be one of the most competitive I have raced in with several cars capable of victory. The last couple of races in the American Le Mans Series and the first round of the Le Mans Endurance Series prove that Audi will have a fight on its hands."

One thing McNish will be eager to avoid is a repeat of the incident which saw him forced to 'retire' from the race twelve months ago following a heavy accident in the early stages of the race. Although the car was repaired and went on to finish the race in fifth place, McNish was left with a watching brief after race officials advised him not to return to the cockpit.

"I had set the fastest time in the pre-race test and qualified second to Veloqx team-mate Johnny Herbert for the race," he recalled. "But shortly before two hours and with the leading Herbert Audi just 25secs ahead, I skated off the track on oil at the high-speed Porsche Curves. JJ in the Champion Audi followed me in to the barriers seconds later.

"I was momentarily stunned by the heavy impact with the barriers but nursed the badly damaged Audi back to the pits. Once out of the car, I was immediately examined by doctors from Audi before being taken to the circuit's Medical Centre for a precautionary check-up. Suffering no injuries and declared physically fit apart from nursing a bad headache, I was advised by race officials not to take any further part in the race so last year was a huge, personal disappointment.

"Our car lost 75mins in the pits making repairs but my co-drivers recovered from 46th place to take fifth in my absence."