Six of McNish's best

GETTING ON THE MAP: Laguna Seca 1997
Porsche 911 GT1 Evo

Picked up by Porsche as a test driver at the start of the year and placed with the Roock squad for the Le Mans 24 Hours, McNish was drafted into the German manufacturer's FIA GT Championship squad at the A1-Ring. But it was at the Laguna Seca finale in an extra car that he made his mark.

A Porsche 911 GT1 Evo finally led a race in McNish's hands and the car, shared with Ralf Kelleners, was in with a shot of victory before a bungled pitstop.

The performance and a third-place finish proved his worth as a sportscar driver and set him on course for a full-season deal for 1998.

"That race was important," says McNish. "It effectively cemented my place at Porsche."

THE FIRST AT LE MANS: Le Mans 24 Hours 1998
Porsche 911 GT1-98

Porsche's new carbon-composite 911 GT1-98 didn't prove a match for the latest V8-powered incarnation of the Mercedes CLK concept in FIA GTs, but the car was most definitely in the hunt at Le Mans.

An impressive stint in drying conditions in the night firmly established the Porsche McNish shared with Stephane Ortelli and late-signing Laurent Aiello in a clear lead.

A cooling-system issue, and brief but ultimately failed comeback from Toyota, couldn't deprive the trio of victory.

"You don't realise what winning the Le Mans 24 Hours actually means until you do it," says McNish. "Being up there on that podium is something special and my phone didn't stop ringing for days."

McNISH SHOWS HIS CLASS: Sears Point 2000
Audi R8

McNish was already a Le Mans winner when he arrived in the American Le Mans Series. Yet it wasn't until he claimed his first series victory with the Audi R8 at Sears Point in July 2000 that America realised just how special he was.

It wasn't just that he and long-time partner Rinaldo Capello won from pole, it was the way McNish destroyed the opposition - Audi team-mates Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela included - that was special. McNish put a whole lap on Pirro in the space of a stint and a half.

"It was an important moment because it was the first victory together for Dindo and I," says McNish, "and it set up my run to the championship."

HIS GREATEST RACE: Le Mans 24 Hours 2008
Audi R10 TDI

Is this the best that Allan McNish ever drove? Probably. Peugeot had the quicker car in the 908 HDi, but Audi pulled off a shock with its ageing R10 TDI to win again. The German manufacturer and Joest Racing called it right tactically, but this win had a lot to do with the performances from McNish and team-mate Tom Kristensen.

Their car, ably co-driven by Capello, was the only one of the three Audis able to take the fight to the Pugs. They wrung the neck of their R10 to stay in touch over the first half of the race and then moved into the pound seats when the rain came. Ever-changing conditions ensured it remained exciting right to the end and made the race one of the classic Le Mans encounters.

"It was one of my best-ever races because we had to drive every single lap like a qualifying lap," he says.

THE STRANGEST COMEBACK: Petit Le Mans 2008
Audi R10 TDI

Allan McNish was out of the car and kicking anything that came within range of his Nomex-booted foot just 40 minutes before the start after looping his Audi R10 TDI on the formation lap. Yet 11 hours later he was celebrating victory at Road Atlanta with team-mates Capello and Emanuele Pirro.

It was the result of an amazing comeback, or rather comebacks. The first was Champion Racing's repairs that got McNish out on track only two and a bit laps behind the leaders. The next was the drive by McNish and Pirro that put the car back on the lead lap in hour three.

There were further delays and more ground lost, but some exemplary pitwork from Champion clawed it all back. Crucially, it then got McNish out on fresh Michelins for the 36-lap run-in.

What followed was the Scot at his best. He dispatched one of the Penske Porsches, team-mate Marco Werner and then Peugeot driver Christian Klien in quick order, and then fought a solid rear-guard action after one final safety car.

"That's one I cringe about and smile about at the same time," says McNish. "I thought we were dead ducks."

THE FORGOTTEN ONE: Sebring 12 Hours 2009
Audi R15 RDI

After the great wins at Le Mans and Petit Le Mans in 2008, McNish, Kristensen and Capello won the other sportscar classic at Sebring with the new R15 TDI to complete a grand slam at Sebring in a thrilling battle with arch-rival Peugeot.

The R15 didn't look a match for Peugeot's 908 turbodiesel, at least not for the first two thirds of the race. Yet when the temperatures dropped as night fell, the German car came into its own and had the edge on the soft-compound Michelin tyre.

McNish drove an amazing final stint in the knowledge that the Audi, unlike the pursuing French car, would need a late splash of fuel. A series of laps below the pole time built him the advantage he required. The Scot got in and out of the pits without losing the lead to give the R15 a debut victory.

"Everyone slates the R15, but at Sebring that year I had the best-balanced sportscar I ever had in my career," he says. "It was the first time I'd ever gone around the outside of someone at Turn 1. I had that much confidence in the car."

MCNISH BOWS OUT

Opinion: McNish chose perfect time to stop

15 questions: McNish uncut

Race report: McNish wins 2013 Le Mans

Classic feature: McNish tests a Porsche 962

Race report: McNish's 2008 Petit charge

Race report: McNish wins 2008 Le Mans