McNish's diesel dream dies

Allan McNish’s dreams of motorsport history are in tatters after a string of problems ruined his chances of Le Mans 24 Hours glory.

The Scotsman's race started well from pole position and he handed his Audi over to co-driver Rinaldo Capello with a half-minute lead over the chasing pack.

However, his hopes of winning Le Mans with a diesel for the first time were dashed soon after with mechanical woes leaving his car six laps off the pace as darkness fell.

Capello was soon under pressure from Audi team-mate Marco Werner, who closed within touching distance after a mistake from the leader saw him run wide.

Capello’s error proved academic when mechanical gremlins struck the Audi soon after, starting with an innocuous problem with the tiny windscreen on the open-topped car.

That required an extra pit stop but more serious trouble saw the car return to the pits for lengthy work, meaning seven-time winner Tom Kristensen returned to the track in eighth.

Trouble for the number seven Audi left Emanuele Pirro two laps clear in the lead after the expected challenge from Pescarolo failed to materialise.

Neither French car could match the Audi pace, although a double podium is very much on the cards.

World rally champion Sebastien Loeb and Formula One driver Franck Montagny did their bit to help the top Pescarolo into second place, with Eric Helary piloting it into the French night.

They were involved in a close tussle with the other Pescarolo car but as darkness fell at Le Mans, Nicolas Minassian ran into trouble and lost more ground.

The Frenchman, who co-drives with Erik Comas and Emmanuel Collard, dropped a lap behind Helary, bringing him into the clutches of ex-Formula One backmarker Alex Yoong.

He helped the Racing for Holland team recover from an early penalty and minor technical troubles, teaming up with Jan Lammers and Stefan Johansson to move into fourth, less than a lap adrift of Minassian.

Yoong has little pressure from behind, with fifth-placed Marcel Fassler two laps behind in the Courage.

While McNish’s dreams of glory are effectively over, the Union Jack could yet fly over the Le Mans podium in the supporting classes.

Mike Newton, from Manchester, and Andy Wallace, from Oxford are leading the LMP2 class in the Lola they share with Brazilian Thomas Erdos, over a lap clear of another pair of Englishman.

Loughborough’s Stuart Moseley and St Ives’ Martin Short, helped by Portuguese pilot Joao Barbosa are running second in the class.

In the GT1 category, Oliver Gavin – alongside Olivier Bretta and Jan Magnussen – has led throughout for Corvette, despite pressure from the Aston Martin of Pedro Lamy, Stephane Ortelli and Stephane Sarrazin.