Porsche seals Le Mans 1-2 14 | 06 | 2015
SEVENTEEN YEARS AFTER Scot Allan McNish stood on the top step of the podium, savouring his first win for Porsche in the Le Mans 24-Hours, the German manufacturer finally ended its long drought at the world's toughest endurance race.
But despite sealing what ended up being a comfortable 1-2 result, it wasn't the pre-race favourite, the No17 Porsche driven by Aussie ex-Formula One ace Mark Webber, which took the chequered flag.
Instead it was the team's 'back-up' car, the No19 (pictured) driven by current F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg, 24-year-old Kiwi Earl Bamber, and Brit Nick Tandy.
The 33-year-old from Bedford was the big performer of the trio, rattling off a series of blindingly quick laps during a quadruple stint during the cool temperatures of the night. His performance catapulted the car into a fight for the lead, which it took at 6.30am, and held, unchallenged, for the next eight-and-a-half hours.
"It's just a dream," a clearly emotional Tandy struggled to say immediately after the race, before riding dizzily on the side of the Porsche as Hulkenberg drove it to the podium ceremony. "I honestly can't believe it."
Webber — partnered by Kiwi Brendon Hartley and German Timo Bernhard — recovered from a 60-second penalty to finish second in the No17 Porsche.
Related: EXCLUSIVE — Interview with Loic Duval
There were a number of firsts for the winning trio. Hulkenberg is the first competing F1 driver to win Le Mans since 1991: Bamber is the first Kiwi to win since 1966; and both Hulkenberg and Bamber are the first rookies to win the gruelling race since Laurent Aiello.
The Frenchman partnered McNish in the 911 GT1 in 1998, the last time Porsche won the race overall.
And today's result proved bittersweet for the 45-year-old from Dumfries. McNish, who most recently won the race twice with Audi, is now a key cog in masterminding the Ingolstadt team's Le Mans efforts.
Uncharacteristically Audi, which had won 13 of the previous 15 races, and the last five in succession, had a troubled weekend punctuated by a series of irritating, minor technical problems.
As a result of the lost time in the pits, the lead Audi of three-time winners — Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer only finished third, despite losing time when it lost a chunk of its bodywork.
Treluyer also posted the fastest-ever race lap round the 8.45-mile circuit, clocking 3mins 17.476secs, an average speed of 154mph,
"We knew we'd be faster than the Porsches in the heat of the day and early evening on Saturday, and that's exactly the way it panned out," McNish explained.
Related: Allan McNish — We handed Porsche pole
"Unfortunately, we then couldn't match the Porsche cars' speed throughout the cooler temperatures of the night, and they were able to claw back the advantage we'd established.
"Plus, each of our three Audis had technical problems: never anything major, but as everyone knows, at Le Mans one of your prime objectives is to stay out of the garage and the pits. Unfortunately we had too many niggle wee problems.
"But obviously I have to congratulate Porsche. They've done a fantastic job this weekend. Not only has their constant speed impressed me, but so too has their reliability.
"It's clear their cars spent less time in the pits than ours, which has surprised us, but sometimes you get race weekends like this. But believe me, we'll be back next year even more determined to win again at Le Mans."
And Audi's determination and commitment to come back fighting to the overall win at Le Mans next year was emphasised by Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi motorsport.
"We have not been perfect this weekend, and you need to perform perfectly when you're up against such a competitive team as Porsche," he said. "I congratulate them.
"Yes, we had a little bit of bad luck, but bad luck is not why we did not win this weekend. But we'll be back: the work has already started on the 2016 Le Mans Audi."
Related: Webber bids for Porsche glory at Le Mans
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/Scotcars
Jim McGill