McNish puts ALMS title beyond doubt

The Scot, who will spend next season testing Toyota's new Formula One entry, said that this achievement ranked alongside his 1998 Le Mans victory for Porsche.

The 31-year-old Audi driver only needed to start the race and complete 25 laps in order to secure the crown under the quirky ALMS points system, but a back injury aggravated during a photoshoot put his chances in jeopardy. The discomfort forced him to sit out qualifying, and he was only cleared to compete on the morning of the race.

"It's a big relief," McNish admitted after completing the necessary mileage with an 11s lead over team-mate Frank Biela.

"This is up there with winning Le Mans. There's no doubt that Le Mans is the biggest individual prize you can win but this is a bit bigger because it's a championship and you must perform over 12 races."

McNish and his co-driver Rinaldo Capello have dominated this year's ALMS, taking five victories out of the 11 races held prior to the Adelaide finale. After a shaky start to the season, wins at Sears Point and Mosport Park put McNish into the thick of the title battle, and then a run of three consecutive victories at Portland, the Petit Le Mans and Las Vegas made the result a formality.

"I'm very proud of the way we've gone about it," McNish continued. "I think we've done it with a bit of style."

McNish and Capello continued to win in Adelaide as well, dominating the race to score their sixth victory of 2000 (see separate story.)