Andy Priaulx
| Andy Priaulx | |
|---|---|
|
Priaulx in 2008 | |
| Nationality |
 British |
| Born |
8 August 1974 Guernsey |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2016 |
| Current team | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK |
| Car no. | 67 |
| Starts | 9 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 5th in 2016 |
| Previous series | |
| 1998–99 2000–01 2001–02 2003–04 2005–2010 2012–2013 |
Renault Spider Cup British F3 British Touring Car Championship European Touring Car Championship World Touring Car Championship Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters |
| Championship titles | |
| 1999 2004 2005–2007 |
Renault Spider Cup European Touring Car Championship World Touring Car Championship |
| Awards | |
| 1999 2004 |
Autosport British Club Driver of the Year Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year |
| BTCC record | |
| Teams | Team IHG Rewards Club, egg:sport, Honda |
| Drivers championships | 0 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podium finishes | 13 |
| Poles | 7 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| Debut season | 2001 |
| First win | 2002 |
| Best championship position | 5th (2002) |
| Final season (2015) position | 8th (247 points) |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Participating years | 2010 –2011, 2016 |
| Teams | BMW Motorsport |
| Best finish | 15th (3rd LMGTE Pro) (2011) |
| Class wins | 0 |
Andrew Graham "Andy" Priaulx, MBE (born 8 August 1974)[1] is a British professional racing driver from Guernsey, currently racing for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship,[2] having been a former BMW factory driver.[3] He is a European Touring Car Championship champion, three times World Touring Car Championship champion and 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).[4]
Racing career
Born in Guernsey, 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, sharing a car with his father Graham. 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 transferable 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) guest drives for the Egg Vauxhall team, standing in for the suspended Phil Bennett. He stunned the regulars by taking pole position on his debut at Oulton Park, demonstrating that his future appeared to lie in that direction.
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The following year he was signed by the works Honda 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 with Yvan Muller in a Kmart Racing Commodore and 2003 with Cameron McLean again in a Kmart Commodore, and also the Sandown 500 km in 2003.
2004 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 Priaulx the title.
Priaulx repeated his 2004 success in 2005, 2006 and 2007, 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 and won from pole position in the second race to claim his and BMW's third WTCC championship in a row.[5]
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[6]
Priaulx again raced in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW Team UK in 2009, finishing fourth in the standings. As well as the WTCC, he competed in selected rounds of the American Le Mans Series for BMW and a number of races in the Australian V8 Supercars championship, driving a Walkinshaw Racing Holden with David Reynolds at the Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance races.
In 2010, Priaulx continued to race in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW and competed in several races for BMW in the Le Mans Series, 2010 Armor All Gold Coast 600 in V8 Supercars with Craig Lowndes, Race of Champions, as well as the Le Mans 24 Hours.
On 5 December 2010, BMW announced that it would not be continuing its factory effort in the World Touring Car Championship from 2011 onwards.[7] It was announced on 25 January 2011, that Priaulx contest the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup for BMW, as well as undertaking testing duties for BMW with cars from other racing categories.[8]
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Priaulx spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons racing for BMW in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, scoring his best result in the final round of the 2013 season at the Hockenheimring, where he finished in sixth after starting in third.[9] He switched to racing in the United SportsCar Championship in the United States for 2014.[10] In January 2015 it was announced at Autosport International that Priaulx would return to the British Touring Car Championship for 2015 with West Surrey Racing, campaigning a BMW 125i M Sport, combining his BTCC programme with racing works BMWs in the European Le Mans Series and the North American Endurance Cup.[11]
Ford WEC
On 5 December 2015, it was announced that Priaulx had parted ways with BMW after a 13-year stint with the German manufacturer to join Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK for their upcoming debut in the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season.[12] He was officially unveiled as a Ford driver on 5 January 2016 alongside teammates Marino Franchitti, Stefan Mücke, and Olivier Pla.[13]
Nationality
Although Priaulx is British, he has occasionally been mistakenly identified as French, due to his surname (pronounced pree-oh /priːˈoʊ/), which is common in Francophone countries; a French national flag was displayed above the podium at the first race in Curitiba in the 2007 WTCC season.
Racing career highlights
- 1995
- British Hillclimb champion
- 1998
- Runner up in the Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series
- 1999
- British Renault Spider Cup champion with Team Brask
- 2001
- Runner up in the Formula Three Korea Super Prix
- 2002
- Fifth in the British Touring Car Championship
- 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)
- Race of Champions debutant
- 2007
- World Touring Car Championship champion
- Winner of the Guia Race (Race 2)
- Race of Champions Semi-Finalist
- 2008
- Race of Champions Semi-Finalist
- 2009
- Race of Champions Legends Winner
- Race of Champions Finalist
- 2010
- Race of Champions Finalist
- 2011
- 12 Hours of Sebring GT Class winner
Racing record
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Pen. | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | egg:sport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | T | BRH 1 |
BRH 2 |
THR 1 |
THR 2 |
OUL 1 |
OUL 2 |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
MON 1 |
MON 2 |
DON 1 |
DON 2 |
KNO 1 |
KNO 2 |
SNE 1 |
SNE 2 |
CRO 1 |
CRO 2 |
OUL 1 2 |
OUL 2 Ret* |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
DON 1 |
DON 2 |
BRH 1 |
BRH 2 |
11th | 15 | |||||
| 2002 | Honda Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | T | BRH 1 12 |
BRH 2 5 |
OUL 1 7 |
OUL 2 Ret |
THR 1 4 |
THR 2 5 |
SIL 1 4 |
SIL 2 6 |
MON 1 6 |
MON 2 Ret |
CRO 1 4 |
CRO 2 2* |
SNE 1 3 |
SNE 2 Ret |
KNO 1 7 |
KNO 2 1* |
BRH 1 11 |
BRH 2 7* |
DON 1 2 |
DON 2 4* |
−10 | 5th | 116 | ||||||||||
| 2015 | Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | BRH 1 9* |
BRH 2 2 |
BRH 3 8 |
DON 1 12 |
DON 2 10 |
DON 3 NC |
THR 1 5 |
THR 2 NC |
THR 3 13 |
OUL 1 3 |
OUL 2 15 |
OUL 3 Ret |
CRO 1 1* |
CRO 2 4 |
CRO 3 2 |
SNE 1 5 |
SNE 2 3 |
SNE 3 3 |
KNO 1 3 |
KNO 2 5 |
KNO 3 4 |
ROC 1 |
ROC 2 |
ROC 3 |
SIL 1 23 |
SIL 2 1* |
SIL 3 21 |
BRH 1 8 |
BRH 2 9 |
BRH 3 10 |
8th | 247 |
Complete European Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | BMW Team Great Britain | BMW 320i | VAL 1 6 |
VAL 2 3 |
MAG 1 3 |
MAG 2 Ret |
PER 1 4 |
PER 2 4 |
BRN 1 4 |
BRN 2 1 |
DON 1 15 |
DON 2 5 |
SPA 1 6 |
SPA 2 1 |
AND 1 8 |
AND 2 2 |
OSC 1 3 |
OSC 2 1 |
EST 1 7 |
EST 2 4 |
MNZ 1 2 |
MNZ 2 6 |
3rd | 100 |
| 2004 | BMW Team UK | BMW 320i | MNZ 1 5 |
MNZ 2 2 |
VAL 1 4 |
VAL 2 6 |
MAG 1 8 |
MAG 2 1 |
HOC 1 1 |
HOC 2 Ret |
BRN 1 1 |
BRN 2 2 |
DON 1 6 |
DON 2 1 |
SPA 1 4 |
SPA 2 5 |
IMO 1 5 |
IMO 2 Ret |
OSC 1 1 |
OSC 2 Ret |
DUB 1 2 |
DUB 2 2 |
1st | 111 |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† — Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Rnd 4 | Rnd 5 | Rnd 6 | Rnd 7 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | BMW Motorsport | M3 GT2 | SEB | SPA | LMS | IMO | SIL | ROA | ZHU | 2nd | 123 |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 |  BMW Motorsport |
Dirk Müller Dirk Werner |
BMW M3 GT2 | GT2 | 53 | DNF | DNF |
| 2011 | BMW Motorsport |
Dirk Müller Joey Hand |
BMW M3 GT2 | GTE Pro |
313 | 15th | 3rd |
| 2016 | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK |
Marino Franchitti Harry Tincknell |
Ford GT | GTE Pro |
306 | 40th | 9th |
Complete V8 Supercar results
+ Not Eligible for points
Complete DTM results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | BMW Team RBM | BMW M3 DTM | HOC 6 |
LAU 17 |
BRH Ret |
SPL Ret |
NOR 7 |
NÜR 19 |
ZAN 13 |
OSC Ret |
VAL 8 |
HOC 7 |
13th | 24 |
| 2013 | BMW Team RMG | BMW M3 DTM | HOC 17† |
BRH 19 |
SPL 19 |
LAU 22 |
NOR 9 |
MSC 20 |
NÜR 16 |
OSC 19 |
ZAN 19 |
HOC 6 |
20th | 10 |
† Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of the race distance.
Complete European Le Mans Series results
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS | LMGTE | BMW Z4 GTE | BMW 4.4 L V8 | SIL 4 |
IMO 4 |
RBR 4 |
LEC 2 |
EST 1 |
2nd | 79 |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | LMGTE Pro | Ford GT | Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6 | SIL 4 |
SPA 2 |
LMS 10 |
NÜR 12 |
MEX 5 |
COA 4 |
FUJ 1 |
SHA 1 |
BHR 4 |
5th | 117.5 |
References
- ↑ "Andy Priaulx". DriverDB. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ↑ "Drivers". www.chipganassiracing.com.
- ↑ "Andy Priaulx explains decision to leave BMW for Ford WEC deal".
- ↑ "WTCC GRAND FINALE AT MACAU – WHAT IF...". World Touring Car Championship official website. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ↑ Priaulx wins third Touring title BBC Sport – 18 November 2007
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58729. p. 21. 14 June 2008.
- ↑ Beer, Matt (5 December 2010). "BMW pulls works team out of WTCC". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
- ↑ English, Steven (24 January 2011). "Full BMW ILMC campaign for Priaulx". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ↑ O'Leary, Jamie (14 November 2013). "Andy Priaulx set to leave DTM to switch to GT racing in 2014". autosport.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ↑ "Guernsey: Andy Priaulx to race for BMW in America". bbc.co.uk. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ↑ Mitchell, Scott (8 January 2015). "Andy Priaulx joins WSR for British Touring Car Championship return". autosport.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ↑ "Andy Priaulx explains decision to leave BMW for Ford WEC deal". Autosport.com.
- ↑ "Ford GT Drivers Revealed for World Endurance Battle | FIA World Endurance Championship". www.fiawec.com.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andy Priaulx. |
- Andy Priaulx official website
- Andy Priaulx career summary at DriverDB.com
- Andy Priaulx Performance Management
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Grace |
British Hill Climb Champion 1995 |
Succeeded by Roy Lane |
| Preceded by Gabriele Tarquini |
European Touring Car Championship Champion 2004 |
Succeeded by series became WTCC |
| Preceded by Roberto Ravaglia (1987) |
World Touring Car Championship Champion 2005–2006–2007 |
Succeeded by Yvan Muller |
| Preceded by Duncan Huisman |
Guia Race winner 2006 Race 1 |
Succeeded by Jörg Müller |
| Preceded by Alain Menu |
Guia Race winner 2007 Race 2 |
Succeeded by Alain Menu |
| Preceded by Tom Kristensen Petter Solberg |
Race of Champions Nations' Cup 2015 With: Jason Plato |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Richard Lyons |
Autosport British Club Driver of the Year 1999 |
Succeeded by Michael Caine |
| Preceded by Jenson Button |
Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 2004 |
Succeeded by Dan Wheldon |