Andy Priaulx aiming to turn pace into wins

Andy Priaulx will be aiming to turn his strong Saturday form in to a win at Croft as he was narrowly beaten to pole by BMW teammate Sam Tordoff.

Priaulx had sat at the top of the provisional grid for the majority of the session, only being beaten by Tordoff in the final five minutes, but despite his speed, Priaulx was not totally happy with the way his car felt.

“I’m very happy with it but to be honest I didn’t feel great in the session,” Priaulx told TouringCarTimes. “The track changed a lot, I think the Porsches [who were on track just before qualifying] changed the circuit. The evolution was not in the direction we thought it would be. I struggled to find the sweet spot so we’ll look at the data to see if we can find a reason why but overall I’m very, very happy to be on the front row with it all to fight for.”

The three West Surrey Racing BMWs enjoyed a strong session, securing first, second and fourth, setting themselves up as strong favourites for a good race performance in tomorrow’s encounters. Priaulx also knows this is his best chance yet to take his first win since his return to the series.

“It’s a good track for us and we need to take maximum points here,” he said. “Although I’m not really bothered about the championship this year I’m just bothered about trying to win races. This year I’ve had pole and lots of good grid positions for qualifying but I haven’t converted that to a win, so I’ll be looking to do that tomorrow. It would be nicer if it was dry, that’d be more equal for us, but it is what it is and we’ll have to try and hang on tomorrow.”

Priaulx was also highly complimentary about the Croft circuit itself, saying it was almost exactly as he remembered from the last time he raced around the North Yorkshire tarmac.

“Fourteen years and it hasn’t changed, it’s still a great track. From first run this morning I was competitive so I’m very happy with the track, I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t take pole as I’ve been pretty strong the whole day.”