McNish confident in Audi's pace

McNish fell behind all three factory Peugeots at the beginning of the race as Audi struggled to match Peugeot's speed. But problems for two of the leading Peugeots, and some set-up changes that have increased the pace of the Audis have given the Scot confidence that they can still win the race.

"We didn't quite have the balance we were hoping for at the start of the race, but you've got to remember that half a lap came with the safety car, so some of the difference is out of our control and some of it isn't.

"The car is getting better now, the balance is getting better and Dindo [Capello] has been able to attack a bit more. We had to make one change on our car because there was damage from debris, then the second change was for the balance and it has been an improvement."

Despite Peugeot's advantage in the early stages, McNish believes Audi are still in with a good chance of winning, with 18 hours still to go.

"We're close to the other Peugeot, the Wurz car. Overall, we're certainly not where we'd like to be against the lead car, but we're only six hours into the race.

"They've certainly got a strategic advantage over us. They've got a performance that we can get near but there is a very long way to go. We've just got to play our game and see how it comes out. There's a lot of strategy to play yet.