McNish to race in Germany

Allan McNish will lock horns with former Formula One world champion Mika Hakkinen in the German DTM series next season.

McNish was today revealed as an Audi driver in the high-profile touring car series, where he will compete against fellow rookie Hakkinen, who will drive a Mercedes.

The Dumfries-born driver drove for Audi in sportscars last season, finishing runner-up in the Le Mans Endurance Series, but enduring 24-hour heartache at Le Mans where he crashed heavily early on.

McNish is excited by the new challenge and said: “The DTM has got a very high pedigree of drivers, some from Formula One like Mika, plus some unfamiliar faces for me like Britain’s Gary Paffett.

“But no matter anyone’s background, there is not one person racing who wants to finish second.

“DTM will be new territory for me but, having visited the championship finale this year, I can confirm the racing is very fast and furious. I will give 100% but being a DTM new boy I am not going to make any predictions.”

McNish joins a growing contingent of ex-Formula One drivers in DTM, which is based in Germany but takes in rounds in Turkey, France and Holland.

Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Hakkinen are all former Grand Prix winners while the likes of Bernd Schneider and Emanuele Pirro struggled to make the grade in Formula One.

McNish accepts his transition is not going to be easy but is taking heart from six-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen’s rookie year, while he can expect to have competitive machinery after Mattias Ekstrom won the title for Audi last season.

He added: “It is not going to be easy for me and I am going to have to learn the tricks of the trade but I watched Tom’s progress this year coming from a similar background and he was competitive.

“I am really excited about this programme and can’t wait to start. I still get the same feeling now as when I started karting almost 25 years ago and combining that passion with hard work and effort from myself and the team I know we can be successful.”

McNish is part of an expanded Audi effort in DTM next season which sees eight A4 cars on the grid.

He joins the likes of fellow sportscar drivers Pierre Kaffer, Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello. Ekstrom, Martin Tomczyk, Christian Abt and Frank Stippler make up the rest of Audi’s squad.

“I enjoy working with Audi and their clear and decisive mentality suits me,” said McNish.

“Additionally, many people from the ultra-successful Audi R8 programme are also involved in the DTM project.

“When I came back from F1 I wanted to return to Le Mans and Audi after driving for them in 2000.

"There were many reasons but the two important ones were they know how to win and we work well together.”