Le Mans: I'm too hyper - star

Jun 16 2007 By The Journal

Allan McNish admits he is facing a fight with himself more than anything else he will encounter during the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend.

The easiest aspect of the classic endurance race for McNish is driving his Audi because that comes naturally.

The hard part is when he is not in the car, trying to find a way to relax for five hours or so while co-drivers Dindo Capello and record seven-times winner Tom Kristensen are in the race seat.

It is a tense period of time for the 37-year-old Scot, one he has failed to find an ideal solution to given the investment made in the preceding 364 days.

"I find I'm too much on tenterhooks," said McNish.

"As much as I trust Dindo and Tom when they are in the car, it's a year of life driving around out there. There is so much I have put into it before the race - the tests, the meetings, phone calls, simply trying to improve physically and mentally as a driver.

"So I struggle to relax. I struggle badly. I'm not good at it. I'm trying hard, but I just don't do it naturally.

"I have to force myself to get away and sit down. I then have something to eat, a shower, a massage, and try to rest.

"I don't listen to music or play on a Playstation or anything like that because it winds me up more than anything else."

Because McNish is such a `hyper' character, it is why emotionally and mentally he is affected more than he is physically.

It results in the only guarantee from a Le Mans weekend - that he will wind up in bed for a few days afterwards with some form of illness.

"Mentally and emotionally, because you have been building up to it for so long, then it is hard," he said. "So much of your life, energy and heart goes into it, and for a few hours after the race you are still buzzing on adrenaline.

"But for me, three hours after a race, my body shuts down for a couple of days.

"Emotionally I am gone, I turn into a wreck, and I usually end up with a cold or a flu for a couple of days, with aches and pains here and there.

"After the first few races I competed in I booked things in the week after, but not anymore. Forget it. I'll be going to bed."

McNish, Capello and Kristensen start today second on the grid behind the lead Peugeot of Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy.