Nose problem for McNish and Capello

Allan McNish and Dindo Capello had to settle for fifth in the latest round of the American Le Mans Series following a first-lap accident.

With Capello starting the 165-minute race at the Mid Ohio Sports Car course, the Italian’s Audi R10 TDi was bumped off the track from the off by Stefan Johansson’s Acura.

That relegated Capello to the back of the field, yet despite a handling imbalance caused by a damaged front nose, he managed to hand over to McNish in seventh overall.

McNish said: “A new nose was fitted when I took over from Dindo.

“I was really able to push hard and my lap times were quick, fast in traffic, allowing me to unlap myself.

“This showed what we could have been capable of had we not suffered at the start – we could have won this race.

“It was obviously unsatisfactory Dindo got taken out unnecessarily – Stefan Johansson had enough room to make the manoeuvre without compromising us.

“But while I’m disappointed, I’m encouraged that we seem to have got back some of our speed in race trim in comparison to recent races which is good for the future.”

McNish managed to finish second in the LM P1 class, ending a run of five successive category victories, and with the lead now cut to 18 points after the ’sister’ Audi of Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner took the chequered flag.

The overall winners were Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in the LM P2 class Porsche RS Spyder, while in the GT1 class, Huntingdon’s Oliver Gavin and Frenchman Olivier Beretta cruised to the win in their Corvette.

The two-time defending GT1 champions now have a 32-point lead over their nearest rivals in their category.