andy uncensored
This section is under development and will soon feature a blog of Andy's personal thoughts through the season. In the meantime we have included a selection of frequently asked questions, and some of Andy's top race tips.
If you have a question or suggestion for something you would like to hear about, please drop us an email via the contact section.
q and a
You have won races in the BTCC, and both the ETCC and WTCC titles. What are the big differences?
The work load, the travel, the depth and size of the grid in both drivers and cars. The WTCC is at a different level with BMW entering five ‘works’ cars, SEAT six and Chevrolet three. With semi-factory Alfa Romeos and six former champions on the grid there are ten or more potential race winners and at least five drivers with a realistic shot at my World title. In the BTCC you only have Vauxhall as a true manufacturer team and Giovanardi, Neal and Plato the only established drivers.
In the WTCC we visit a good mixture of circuits from open Grand Prix tracks, to street circuits, to small, narrow national circuits, all over the World. The travel is a big part of the season, as is the promotion around the series and the testing. We will schedule a minimum of 30 days testing during the season and since we received the new E90 car, we have been testing once or twice a week. This testing is excellent for me as the driver, as seat time is essential to really understand the car. With the WTCC, success is all in the detail.
You have been testing for Williams BMW, what was that like?
Formula One was my ambition when I started racing and it was a tick in the box when I tested in Valencia. It was great to work with such a large and professional team and to be part developing the car. It is interesting from both a technical and speed aspect and an amazing experience. Having said that, it is a race car and it is about finding the limit and then finding a way to make it faster. It is not so different from how I go about developing my touring car, but obviously there are an infinitely greater number of traction and aero changes that can be explored.
How do you manage to pull out those amazing laps such as those in Dubai 2004, Macau 2005 and Monza 2006?
Qualifying is about detail and set up of both the car and driver. I plan for the qualifying lap all day as it is so crucial to the weekend and work to bring both my driving and the car to a peak for just the one lap on Saturday.
How do hill climbs compare to the more usual karting as training grounds?
I enjoyed my hill climbing and was proud to be British champion. As a training ground for a professional career in motorsport, it is not as good as karting, which I also competed in. Hill climbing does teach you how to drive and get the best out of cold tyres, which is a difficult skill to learn, as well as car control on a narrow road. It perhaps helps in how I approach qualifying, but there is no substitute for karting to learn race craft and to compete with drivers who will be climbing the racing ladder with you.
andy's race tips
- Set-up is crucial and is the easiest way to go from hero to zero
- Be your own worst critic, but in a positive way
- Be honest with the team and if you don’t know, say so
- Build up gradually
- Qualifying is crucial to the whole weekend
- Plan your race working through a number of offensive and defensive scenarios in your mind
- What goes around comes around so be hard but fair on track