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

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

To Jo, Seb, Dannii and family.

Cover Page

Title Page Andy Priaulx Triple World Champion THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Dedication To Jo, Seb, Dannii and family.

Foreword FOREWORD by Dr Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director WHEN I WAS TOLD BY BMW GB that they wanted to sign Andy Priaulx for their assault on the European Touring Car Championship I must admit I had not heard a great deal about him. I was soon to learn about his challenges to get recognised in the motorsport world and how he would go on to be a great ambassador for motorsport and BMW. Having brought home four titles for BMW his success for the Team has been well recognised, and in securing matching manufacturer’s titles we too have proven our status in the competitive world of touring car racing. What this book spells out is the unrelenting resolve of Andy to achieve the very best results from not only himself but his team and those around him, ensuring that everyone is working to the aim of winning. Andy has had a fantastic grounding in finding his own sponsorship to survive and pursuing self-taught disciplines to gain impressive results. These qualities allow him to pass his experiences on to our young drivers in Formula BMW, where he has been a chief instructor, and also to the many around the paddock to whom he is always giving encouragement. After visiting his home in Guernsey on holiday and thoroughly enjoying the experience, it was even more evident to me the work that Andy has put into motor racing. He has come from an island with no race circuit but a great grassroots motorsport heritage; his raw talent developed on the Val des Terres hillclimb amongst granite walls and unforgiving barriers has flourished on the international stage as Andy has risen to become World Champion. Andy has had to work hard and sacrificed almost everything to achieve his goal. However, he has maintained a personable and totally approachable demeanour and continues to be a terrific mentor for the young drivers of the future, backed totally by his family and a loyal group of friends. His story opens your eyes to how dreams can be achieved.

1 Into The Unknown

2 Dubai: Mission Accomplished

3 Hard Times At Silverstone

4 A Guernseyman Forever

5 Survival Of The Fittest

6 Family Matters

7 Stubborn As A Mule

8 I Am A Racing Driver

9 Making A Name For Myself

10 Earning A Living

11 Racing Into Europe

12 Finding My Edge

13 Macau: Beating The Odds

14 Staying At Home

15 And Now?

Andy Priaulx Career

Index

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

WHEN I WAS TOLD BY BMW GB that they wanted to sign Andy Priaulx for their assault on the European Touring Car Championship I must admit I had not heard a great deal about him. I was soon to learn about his challenges to get recognised in the motorsport world and how he would go on to be a great ambassador for motorsport and BMW.

Having brought home four titles for BMW his success for the Team has been well recognised, and in securing matching manufacturer’s titles we too have proven our status in the competitive world of touring car racing.

What this book spells out is the unrelenting resolve of Andy to achieve the very best results from not only himself but his team and those around him, ensuring that everyone is working to the aim of winning.

Andy has had a fantastic grounding in finding his own sponsorship to survive and pursuing self-taught disciplines to gain impressive results. These qualities allow him to pass his experiences on to our young drivers in Formula BMW, where he has been a chief instructor, and also to the many around the paddock to whom he is always giving encouragement.

After visiting his home in Guernsey on holiday and thoroughly enjoying the experience, it was even more evident to me the work that Andy has put into motor racing. He has come from an island with no race circuit but a great grassroots motorsport heritage; his raw talent developed on the Val des Terres hillclimb amongst granite walls and unforgiving barriers has flourished on the international stage as Andy has risen to become World Champion.

Andy has had to work hard and sacrificed almost everything to achieve his goal. However, he has maintained a personable and totally approachable demeanour and continues to be a terrific mentor for the young drivers of the future, backed totally by his family and a loyal group of friends. His story opens your eyes to how dreams can be achieved.

‘I was just a lad from Guernsey, in an old car, who was driving up the road chasing a dream’

WE ALL WEPT. THE OTHERS MIGHT NOT ADMIT SO NOW, but they did. And it was all my fault. I was leaving home and honestly didn’t have a clue where I was going or what I was going to do. I wanted to get away from Guernsey and make something of myself. I was aiming for Silverstone. I was determined to get to Formula One. I wanted to be a professional racing driver. And I believed I could be…

Looking back now, I realise I was so young and inexperienced. I was still just a kid. I had this big idea in my head and I was intent on making it happen. At least I was being true to type. I am a Guernsey man, a stubborn so-and-so, and I was simply behaving as we all do on my home island – in part, acting like a mule.

My dad Graham, mum Judy and sister Fiona, all the family, my friends and my beautiful fiancée Jo…they were standing there in the harbour, and watched and waved as the boat pulled away. The tears flowed a bit. They knew what I wanted and how much I had sacrificed. I think they understood. I was heading off to chase my dream, leaving everyone behind and hoping for the best.

Who could tell what the future held. Did I have the speed? The character? The talent? The raw ability that everyone needs to succeed in motor racing? One thing I certainly did not have was the money. I had a little profit from some used car sales – not much, although probably just enough to live on for a couple of months. But, more importantly, I had my dream and my self-belief.

The sea rolled and the old Commodore ferryboat carried us out into the English Channel. I felt churned up inside but excited and feeling all manner of conflicting emotions: I wanted to stay with everyone…yet I wanted to go. Although I had previously been away at weekends racing, I’d usually had my family with me, and I had certainly never before been in a situation like this, going to live in another country on my own.

But I was fired by ambition and determined to give it my best shot. Reaching the top for me in those days meant Formula One because I had watched it on television. And if I could not make it to Grand Prix racing, I would still climb as near to the racing summit as I could.

I had my old Volvo estate with me on the ferry and a Hobby caravan, both of which I had bought to live in during the next chapter of my life. And that was it. I would sleep in the caravan – bought cheap on the mainland – and live that way until I could find my feet. That was the plan…