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McNish, Brabham, Minassian Look Ahead

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Highlands Today Staff Report

Published: March 18, 2009

SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY - With a showdown at the front of the grid looming, Acura, Audi and Peugeot drivers sat down with media on Monday for a teleconference discussing the upcoming 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. They discussed the battle at LMP1, the importance of Sebring and their legacy as the series runs its 100th all-time race.

Allan McNish (Audi) was voted ALMS's driver of the decade last year and the winner of the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans and former American Le Mans Series champion.

David Brabham (Acura) was a four-time winner last year in LMP2 and once overall in the Series and the only driver in series history to win in all four classes and in four different marques. He also won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in GT1 class in 2007 and 2008.

Nic Minassian (Peugeot) is considered one of the top sports-car drivers in the world. A year ago, he placed second at both Le Mans and Petit Le Mans, and a year ago at Sebring he finished fourth in P1.

Q: A lot of people are saying that the P1 class this year could be a real classic battle for the ages. Tell us what you think about that and what your team brings to the table in that classic matchup.

Allan McNish: I think it definitely does open itself up to be one of the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring. We saw last year the competitiveness of the various different marques, with Peugeot and Audi in LMP1, but also with Acura and Porsche in LMP2. So it was a real nail-biter right to the end. This year sets itself up to be even better with the addition of Acura into LMP1, plus Peugeot and Audi are back.

David Brabham: Yeah, I agree.

McNish: David is a bit economic on his words.

Brabham: You can judge by the way you feel about a race when you go into it. I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about the challenges ahead because there's some very good competition out there. There are a couple of teams like Audi and Acura that have got new cars. Obviously, the Peugeot is not a new car, so in terms of knowing the car and reliability, Peugeot has the advantage. I think Audi and ourselves are still learning and understanding our new cars, and they're the sort of question marks that I think Allan was talking about. Obviously, I hope we all go out there and we're all reliable and we can race to the end. Because I think if we can do that, it will be one hell of a race.

Q: Nic, same question, tell us what you think about this matchup and what you guys bring to the table this year.

Minassian: I think we're bringing a little bit of experience. We've got the oldest car on the grid now, so sometimes that is good. We've seen it over the past that sometimes the car with no help over three years is a liability, but even so, here it will be tough; it's always tough.

McNish: Well, I've got a question, if no one else has. And that's to Nic. Your boss put out a press release stating that you're here for testing and it was not necessarily to race to win. I know you quite well and I don't necessarily believe that's the drivers' attitude. Can you confirm that?

Minassian: I just want to win the race. (laughter)

Brabham: You're not following policy lines.

Minassian: I'll have to follow what they ask me to do, but if I just come here and think I'm just going to play around, I should not do what I'm doing. I want to win the race - and then slow down if they ask me to.

McNish: That would be a good thing if they asked you to slow down and win the race, but I would just prefer you to slow down, forget about the winning the race part.

Q: Talk about the stature of Sebring this year, and how this might be a one-time battle between these top three teams in P1.

Brabham: I think it will just continually add to the heritage and the history of this race. I've got my father's Cooper coming up here for me to drive around, with which he won the World Championship 50 years ago. When you think back on the drivers and the cars that have raced at this circuit - it's phenomenal. This year's battle will just add to that value. We'll look back in 10 years' time and go, 'Wow that was a pretty cool time to be involved in racing at Sebring.'

Q: What is the most difficult part of racing at Sebring, and what do you enjoy the most about racing here?

McNish: That's easy for me. Winning is the most difficult part and winning is the most pleasurable part. I think that does encapsulate it a little bit because it is a hard slog from the moment that the race starts; you are into a battle all the way until the 12 hours. As we've seen in the last few years the battle is not decided until right at the end. If anyone remembers the Jaime Melo battle coming out of the last corner after 12 hours, and they were wheel-banging. That just shows the intensity of it. Definitely when you do cross the line and then you're standing on the podium spraying the champagne, you know you appreciate it. And that's one of the best feelings you can have.

Brabham: Also this is probably the toughest race we have this year and it's the first race particularly when you've got new programs. I just can relate to the Patron Highcroft Racing team, who've got this new car. It's just been flat-out the whole way leading up to this event. You go out there, you've got high expectations. If something goes wrong, you go back and fix it. All the emotions flying around, then you see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. You get better and better and better, and you come here to the race. We're feeling quietly optimistic we can have a good run.

Minassian: I think it is often a wake-up call here. You're testing all winter, doing this and that, and you arrive at this place and you really have to push like hell in the car to just have a feel of something, to have some speed. It's the kind of track where it's a good thing for a driver as well. It makes you come out of yourself. Some of the best training I can get as a driver is driving here. It's a great place for that.

Q: They talk about this being endurance racing and Sebring being a terrific endurance test. But I constantly hear from a lot of you guys that it's endurance racing, but it's a sprint too, because there really is no backing off. Is that because of the nature of Sebring or is that just because of the nature of the sport?

McNish: Nature of competition. It's the nature of the fact that if you're anything less than a hundred percent, you lose. By nature we all hate losing, so from that point of view it just requires total dedication. It just happens to be added to the fact that this is an arduous, fast and bumpy circuit, as well, that doesn't give you any rest.

Minassian: I've been losing quite a bit lately so I'm tired of it. Second place is a bit boring. (laughter)

Q: This question is more for David. Obviously Acura has got two teams that have moved up, both star-studded lineups. I wonder if you've talked to guys on the de Ferran Motorsports race team who haven't raced on this track and given them any advice. Have you been talking to them at all about what to expect here when the race starts?

Brabham: No, I don't really want to tell them anything. (smile) No, we're effectively two teams in a sense, but everything is transparent. We're always talking about what the car is doing and how we can improve because we know how big a challenge it's going to be to beat the Peugeot and the Audi. We all have to work together, so if there's any advice it's absolutely freely out there to help anybody.

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