Allan McNish announced his retirement while at the top of the sport. With the 2013 World Endurance Championship P1 Drivers’ title in hand and his third victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the record books, the 43-year-old Scot hung up his helmet almost one year ago and prepared to transition from more than a decade spent as Audi’s fiercest competitor to a host of new opportunities.

Stepping out of the cockpit was followed by a new role for McNish as brand ambassador for Audi, Formula 1 commentator for the BBC and, as time has permitted, to mentor a rising sports car star.

Almost 12 months on from McNish’s life and career transition, I spoke with Allan as he prepared to call the final Grand Prix of the year at Abu Dhabi and we traversed topics ranging from how he’s settled into a new phase in motorsport, thoughts about the timing of his retirement, the timeline behind that decision, any regrets he might have, job offers he received immediately after announcing his retirement, spending time with fellow retirees Dario Franchitti and David Coulthard, observations of team dynamics from outside the car, and a few interesting tales from his experiences in 2014, including seeing young Briton Harry Tincknell win the LMP2 class at Le Mans.

Listen in as we have a few laughs and learn as one of sports car racing’s greatest characters and drivers invites us into his world.

​