andy and motorsport
Andy Priaulx is one of motorsports's most versatile and successful racing drivers.
He clinched the 2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) just twelve months after winning the forerunner European title (ETCC) > biography and slideshows. The WTCC, one of only three full world championships awarded by the FIA, is contested by the best drivers in the best machinery > wtcc guide
With Team BMW UK he has beaten drivers vastly more experienced than himself who were supported directly by manufacturers including BMW, SEAT, Chevrolet and Alfa Romeo.
Although the 2005 WTCC title with Team BMW UK was his main priority, as a BMW works driver he was also called on for one of the sports legendary events - the Nürburgring 24 Hour race. At the wheel of the BMW M3 GTR with Pedro Lamy, Boris Said and Duncan Huisman, he took the car to victory in its final event before it was retired to the BMW museum.
Indeed, Andy has driven every kind of racing machinery, and in 2005 was also an official test driver with BMW Williams F1. His first F1 experience had came about as a reward for the 2004 European title, but after a single session behind the wheel he had already shown he could contribute to the development program and his input was used on a regular basis.
One mad week in 2005 sums up this combination of talent, adaptablity, committment and professionalism: in it he won the Nurburgring 24hr race in Germany in the M3 GTR sports car, spent 2 days testing the F1 car for BMW Williams at Vallelunga in Italy, then took podiums in his BMW Team UK 320s touring car at Silverstone in the WTCC.
The achievement shows graphically that Andy is one of those rare and elite drivers who is not only extremely fast and totally reliable, but also technically able to set up a racecar to get the maximum out of it > bio and cv
Andy's ambition is to become the Michael Schumacher of touring car racing and invent a motorsport equivalent of the 'Grand Slam'. Whilst World touring cars remains his priority and collecting his missing British touring car title would not be amiss in the future when it becomes less of a bumper car festival, Le Mans and the blue ribbon sports car events such as Sebring and Spa, as well as Bathurst and the Australian V8 series, are on his radar too.