IMSA SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship announced today that endurance racing legend Allan McNish has been named as Grand Marshal for both the 67th Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts and 1000 Miles of Sebring.
The two races, the second race weekend of the 2019 WeatherTech Championship and round six of the WEC Super Season, headline the Super Sebring event scheduled to take place at historic Sebring International Raceway in Florida track between March 13-16.
“It’s a great honor to be named Grand Marshal for both events and I look forward very much to the entire weekend,” McNish said. “Sebring is a great old school track with fantastic fans and always amazing races. I was lucky enough to have won the 12-hour race four times and have so many memories of great battles through the years. When you win there, you know you’ve achieved a significant victory and beaten every challenge, both technical and physical.”
Both of the sanctioning bodies believe McNish is the perfect choice to give the command of the most famous words in motorsports.
“As part of our IMSA 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2019, the selection of Allan McNish as the Grand Marshal at Sebring represents a perfect fit,” IMSA President Scott Atherton said. “Allan’s name and accomplishments with Audi are etched in Sebring lore for his outstanding performance at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours, just as it is at Le Mans and many other historic sports car racing venues around the world. As IMSA co-headlines the Super Sebring event with the WEC, Allan is the embodiment of excellence in both championships. And he’s a fan favorite and a genuinely nice guy – the perfect Grand Marshal for this epic combined weekend.”
“There are few drivers who can match Allan’s excellent career as an endurance competitor, not to mention his additional, considerable skills as a commentator and journalist and now his success as a team boss,” Gérard Neveu, CEO of the WEC said. “His successes at Sebring makes his return here all the more meaningful to the fans and competitors alike, and we are delighted that he has agreed to serve as Grand Marshal for this great weekend ahead. We can’t think of anyone better for the role.”
The 2013 World Champion, synonymous with Audi’s LMP1 dominance in endurance racing, is a four-time winner of the Twelve Hours of Sebring (2004, 2006, 2009 and 2012) and knows better than most what is required of drivers at this most challenging of sportscar classics. His last victory at Sebring was on the occasion of the WEC’s first-ever race on March 18, 2012.
McNish’s illustrious and storied career also includes three American Le Mans Series championship titles (2000, 2006 and 2007), the ALMS being a predecessor to the current WeatherTech Championship, and three victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1998, 2008 and 2013). On many of these occasions, the Scot was accompanied on the path to success by Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo “Dindo” Capello.
