Andy Priaulx

BTCC alumnus
Name = Andy Priaulx


Caption = Priaulx at the Press Conference after the Race 1 in Curitiba in the 2007 WTCC season.
Nationality = flagicon|UK British | Team = egg:sport, Honda
Championships = 0
Wins = 1
Podiums = 5
Poles = 5
Fastest laps = 1
First year = 2001
First win = 2002
Best position = 5th (2002)
Last season = 2002
Last position = 5th (116 points)

Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE (born Guernsey, 8 August 1974) is a racing driver, European Touring Car Championship champion, and three times World Touring Car Championship champion. He is the only FIA Touring Car champion to win an International level championship for four consecutive years (2004 to 2007). The previous record was Roberto Ravaglia's three successive championships (1986–1988). [cite news | url =http://www.fiawtcc.com/fiawtcc/macau/2006/sport_sto1007454.shtml | title = WTCC GRAND FINALE AT MACAU - WHAT IF… | publisher =World Touring Car Championship official website | pages = | page = | date =2006 | accessdate =2007-11-18 | language =]

Racing career

Priaulx has competed in many types of motorsport, beginning in karting at the minimum age of eight. After a brief flirtation with powerboat racing, he started hillclimbing while still a teenager. It was quickly apparent that he had great natural ability, and few people were surprised when he took the British Hillclimb Championship title in 1995.

After this, he made the switch to circuit racing, where after a relatively low-key couple of years in Formula Renault UK Championship and British Formula 3 he eventually demonstrated his skills were transferrable by switching to the Renault Spider championship in 1998, completely dominating it in 1999. His career stalled somewhat when he returned to British Formula 3 in 2000-01. He had some success at this level, but despite finishing sixth in the championship in 2001 was unable to progress further up the single-seater ladder.

Touring Cars

In 2001 Priaulx had a pair of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) drives for the Egg Vauxhall team, standing in for the suspended Phil Bennett. He stunned the regulars by taking pole position, demonstrating that his future appeared to lie in that direction.

The following year he was signed by the Honda works BTCC team for their 2002 campaign. He won one race and finished on the podium in two others, and the following season was signed by Bart Mampaey's BMW UK team for their European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) effort. He was in contention for the title until late in the year, eventually finishing third. Priaulx also occasionally guested in Australian V8 Supercar racing, competing at the Bathurst 1000km in 2002 and 2003, and also the Sandown 500km in 2003.

2004 at last saw Priaulx win a major circuit racing championship, as he became ETCC champion after a season-long battle with Dirk Müller. Both men obtained the same number of points, but Priaulx had won five races as against Müller's three, and this was sufficient to hand the Guernseyman the title.

Priaulx repeated his 2004 success in 2005 and 2006, clinching the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC, essentially the same series, with two races outside Europe in 2005 and three in 2006) at the final round in Macau. In 2005, he won the crown with two second place finishes in the final round when his nearest rivals, Dirk Müller and Fabrizio Giovanardi both failed to score. The following year, a win in the opening race of the final meeting left him needing to finish fifth in the final event to beat Jörg Müller by a single point, which he achieved.

Heading into the final meeting of the 2007 WTCC season at Macau, Priaulx was joint leader of the championship alongside former BTCC champion Yvan Muller. He came eighth in the first race, after a number of retirements, and won from pole position in the second race to claim his and BMW's third WTCC championship in a row. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7100420.stm Priaulx wins third Touring title] BBC Sport - 18 November, 2007]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. [LondonGazette |issue=58729 |date=14 June 2008 |startpage=21 |supp=yes |notarchive=yes]

Nationality

Priaulx has 'Guernsey' nationality because although the Channel Islands are British crown dependencies, they are not part of the United Kingdom. However, citizenship of the United Kingdom ("British Citizen", "GBR") is granted to the natives of such dependencies ("see": British nationality law). His helmet is inspired by the flag of Guernsey and he still lives on the island of Guernsey, but enters international races as a "British" driver with the flag of the United Kingdom.

"Priaulx" is an Anglo-French (Anglo-Norman) name. It is quite common in Francophone countries especially in Normandy, France. Because of his name, it has occasionally been falsely assumed that he is a French national, such as when a French national flag was handed to him on the podium of the first race at Curitiba in the 2007 WTCC season.

Racing Career Highlights

; 1998: Runner up in the Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series; 1999: British Renault Spider Cup champion; 2001: Runner up in the Formula Three Korea Super Prix; 2003: Third in the European Touring Car Championship; 2004: European Touring Car Championship champion; 2005: World Touring Car Championship champion: Winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring Nordschleife; 2006: World Touring Car Championship champion: Winner of the Guia Race (Race 1);2007: World Touring Car Championship champion: Winner of the Guia Race (Race 2)

References

External links

* [http://www.andypriaulx.com Andy Priaulx official website]
* [http://bmw-motorsport.com/ms/en/races/wtcc/drivers/priaulx/profile.html Profile] - from [http://bmw-motorsport.com/ BMW Motorsport]
* [http://www.fiawtcc.com/fiawtcc/personnews_prs25398.shtml Profile] - from [http://www.fiawtcc.com/ WTCC official website]