McNish celebrates 'sweet' victory

The Scot and co-driver Rinaldo Capello have consistently been the fastest Audi R10 TDI crew in the European-based season, but have been frustrated by a combination of a lack of pace compared to their Peugeot rivals and a long run of misfortune that was broken only by their Le Mans 24 Hours victory in June.

McNish and Capello not only won the race on Sunday but were capable of applying pressure on the French cars from the outset - something they have not been able to do in the dry all season.

"We came here with a very clear objective which was to win the race," said McNish. "The last three Silverstone 1000km races I have sat in this seat having won, and so it has been a happy hunting ground.

"It is a sweet victory after this year because bluntly this year hasn't been that good for our car, for Dindo and I, we've been very competitive and we have been in the mix all the time. We have had chances to win races but it had slipped away.

"The way this race was it kind of looked as if it was going in the same direction. But I think that made the champagne taste that little bit extra when we were standing on the top of the podium."

The No.1 Audi was involved in incidents with both Peugeots during the Autosport 1000km, the second of which cost the French manufacturer any real hope of retaining the constructors' crown.

But while Capello said he was '100 percent innocent' in the crash, he admitted it provided the catalyst for a memorable fightback through the field to win.

"It was one of our greatest victories," said the Italian. "I really thought our race was over when we crashed with Stephane [Sarrazin], but we managed to pull it back and finally score a win in the LMS this season."