Andy Priaulx - Andy Priaulx - The Autobiography of the Three-time World Touring Car Champion

There was no welcome party and no tears when I arrived in England. As I drove off the ferry at Portsmouth I was excited at the prospect of the adventure that lay ahead, even though I had no idea how it would turn out. There I was, in the old Volvo, pulling the old caravan, and heading north away from the coast. It was a bit of a heart-tugging moment. I was hardly driving a fast car and looked like anything but a racing driver as I drove towards Silverstone. And I did not know, after Jo had sold the little house we had bought in Guernsey, how much we would struggle desperately for money and find it difficult to survive at times.

I feared it might be difficult, but I was confident that I had it in me to succeed. I had to make it work. I had to believe in my talent, secure deals, get sponsors and build my career. There were debts from the previous year but – little did I know then – there were to be much bigger and more daunting financial worries ahead of me as I struggled to find my way up the motor racing ladder. People would perhaps laugh at me, but I was determined to prove myself, just as I had done at school when I was the victim of bullying. Then I had to learn to defend myself and survive. This was going to require the same mindset, but quite different skills.

I knew I had a lot to learn and a lot to prove. I had taken such a big risk but I had convinced myself it was a calculated gamble. After all, how many young men of my age – I was then only 23 – would leave a place as isolated and remote as Guernsey to live in a caravan on another island without a confirmed job or any source of income? And all because I reckoned I had enough speed and skill as a racing driver to make it. Looking back, I am not sure I would have done it if I knew then what I know now.

And I was a Guernsey lad. That meant I was used to living in a place where everyone, in general, trusted one another and where we never really locked up our homes; we always left doors and windows open because we knew it was relatively safe. It was the same with cars and car windows. You just did not believe, let alone expect, that anyone would ever think of stealing from you, your home or your car. Crime like that was so rare as to be exceptional in Guernsey.

It was very different as I drove up the A34 looking for somewhere to rest, eat and stretch my legs. It was busy, crowded, and just not as easy-going. I was wet behind the ears all right. I was new to all this, and had to adjust and learn a few things fast. Living in England was going to be very different from staying in Guernsey. The people were different. The way of life was different. And attitudes were very different. It was not as friendly and certainly nothing like as laid-back as I had been used to.

I was just a lad from Guernsey, in an old car, who was driving up the road chasing a dream. Had it not been for my family and some very important friends who had backed me, however, I would not have even been there. Like any other aspiring racing driver, I owed a lot of people a lot of favours and, in many cases, quite a lot of money. But, like me, they believed in my talent – or at least they believed I had enough to stand a chance of making the big time and repaying my debts.

I have always been someone inspired by facing adversity. That is when I am at my strongest. I dig deep, and can find inner strengths to fight back and win. I was not one of the biggest of kids, but I was pretty wiry and tough, and have always been strong for my size. I am tough mentally, too. That’s another byproduct of being bullied at school and learning to look after myself. I don’t let things defeat me in advance – instead I will work out my own way of winning, making sure I know what I am going to do. I can visualise things and use that technique to help me succeed.

Back then, though, as I drove up through the English counties, I could not even visualise where I was going to park the caravan that first night. Or if it would be safe. Or how I would get to sleep. Did I know how to park up easily and legally? Did I have enough food? How was I going to get started on the job? The motor racing season was about to start. I had some contacts and plenty of ideas but nothing in this business is definite…I knew that. Yet I had so much enthusiasm, belief and desire that I knew I would get there somehow, one way or another. If I am honest, I don’t think I even cared how I would do it. I just knew I would succeed, whatever it took…

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