Allan McNish will début Audi’s latest diesel powered sportscar in the Sebring 12 Hour race in Florida next month.

The 39-year-old Scotsman bids for a third career Sebring triumph and the perfect warm-up for the Audi R15 TDI that will next compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours this summer.

The new Audi R15 TDI differs significantly from its predecessor, the R10 TDI, featuring many technically innovative details with which Audi aims to maintain its Le Mans supremacy after scoring three consecutive “diesel” victories in the French “classic” with the R10 TDI.

Audi’s new Le Mans prototype is equipped with a smaller, lighter and even more efficient turbocharged diesel engine.

"The new R15 TDI is spectacular and I can’t wait to race it at Sebring,” said McNish who became the first Briton to win the Le Mans 24 Hours last June driving a diesel-powered sportscar.

“I drove it for the first time before Christmas as planned in Spain and everything went well. Since then Audi Sport has been busy with extensive testing and everything is progressing very well and on schedule – it’s a tremendous car.”

McNish will share his new R15 TDI with Dindo Capello (Italy) and Tom Kristensen (Den) at Sebring on 21 March with Germans Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner in a second Audi Sport Team Joest R15 TDI – the trio having competed together at Sebring last year.

Audi Sport “factory” driver McNish competes in the historic Sebring event having already won the corresponding race in 2004 & ’06 – the latter being the first international sportscar race to be won by a diesel-engined machine.