Scot reflects on the man who gave him his Formula One opportunity with Toyota.

As he prepares to try and secure victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, Allan McNish has paid tribute to the man who gave him his chance in Formula One, Ove Andersson.

Andersson, the former boss of Toyota's Motorsport division and the man who led the Japanese manufacturer into Formula 1, died on Wednesday after being involved in an accident while competing on a classic car rally in South Africa at the age of 70.

McNish, now a part of Audi's hugely successful sportscar team, was part of the Toyota team that tackled the famous Le Mans race while Andersson was in charge and then got his chance in Formula 1 in Toyota's debut F1 season in 2002 in what was to be his only year in the series in a race seat.

"Obviously the passing of Ove Andersson is very sad," McNish reflected. "He was really the stalwart behind Toyota's racing programmes both in rally and also on the circuit as well.

Coming from rallying he was a driver of immense talent, as shown by winning the Monte Carlo. He also then went on to start Toyota's World Rally programmes and took them to many titles. He went into sportscars and the Le Mans 24 Hours prior to starting off their Formula 1 programmes and I thankfully had the good fortune to drive for him both in sportscars at Le Mans and in F1.

"Martin Brundle's description of Ove I found was very true when he said 'he was an iron hand with a velvet glove' and I think that was a very apt description because he was a very strong man but he did it in such a nice calm and controlled fashion. In Formula 1 he took them into it and also gave me my opportunity there. He looked at people that he felt that they deserved the chances and opportunities and then he stood behind them and gave them those chances and opportunities and there are not very many people like that in motorsport.

"I think the world of motorsport is definitely a lot worse now and certainly Toyota as well and there's many many people in Cologne that will be thinking of him and his family."