Allan vows to Eed Le Mans pain

Jun 8 2008

Autosport

SCOT Allan McNish wants to put a decade of pain and near misses behind him at Le Mans on Saturday.

Ten years ago the Dumfries driver won the world's most famous endurance race - but he has only tasted bitter disappointment since.

He suffered a horror crash in 1999 and lost out last year to a freak breakdown.

The Audi star said: "Winning here again would remind me of some of the nice things about this place because last year it was just the harshness of it I recall.

And 1999 was up there with the lows of Le Mans."

Mean while, Dario Franchitti returned to the NASCAR Sprint Cup series after injury with a top qualifying performance He sits outside the top 35 in owner's points but won his right to race by finishing 14th in qualifying for today's Pocono 500 in Pennsylvania.