Priaulx: “I have never seen anything like it”

Andy Priaulx looked to be set for a cracking weekend at Pau in France. The Brit took pole position, but was soon stripped of it due to a penalty.
“Pau was like a roller coaster for me. First I was up and then I was down. There were dramas with the regulations and dramas on the track,” said Priaulx on his webpage.

Priaulx was moved down to fifth on the gird due to over revving during downshifts, something that has not been penalized before.

“I got pole after driving a great lap and lost it because I over revved on a down shift! (By 100 revs),” said Priaulx.

The Brit managed to survive the first lap chaos on the tight and twisty street track to finish fourth.

“Luckily in race one with the rolling start I was able to survive any contact and, after overtaking a couple of cars, I finished fourth and bagged a handful of points.”

The second race was another story though, as for almost the rest of the WTCC field. Priaulx collided with Jörg Müller in the first lap.

“Then it was race two and the world sort of turned upside down. There I was heading into corner two with a BMW either side of me.

Three into one doesn’t go and the contact with Jörg Müller left me with a slow puncture on the left rear and a damaged right rear damper. It was a shame as it is SEAT and Chevrolet we should be racing against.”

Priaulx managed to continue, but was baffled to see the race being stopped due to the crash between Franz Engstler and the safety car.

“I have to admit I have never seen anything like this before. In this case I was glad not to be leading, as looking at the footage afterwards it was obvious the Safety Car driver just drove straight onto the track and onto the racing line and there was no way Franz could avoid the crash.

He must have been gutted as he was leading his first WTCC race.”

Priaulx bagged another fourth place as the second race was restarted and eventually finished.

“All in all it was a disappointing weekend as I had a good strong car capable of winning one of the races. I am now even more determined to get my first win and Valencia will see me out there with all guns blazing.”