Priaulx confident car fine after crash

Priaulx crashed heavily at the Ford Chicane in Thursday's session, spinning into the barriers after hitting unsighted debris on the track.

The impact ruled the #56 BMW M3 GT out of the session and out of the fight for a potential pole, but Priaulx insists there will be no lingering effects and that the team is in good shape for the race.

"This car's a really strong car - I've had a couple of nasty offs now and it's really strong, so I don't expect any adverse handling from what happened," he explained.

"It was a big shunt, a lot of damage, and I must admit I was disappointed by the fact there was no warning of the slippery surface.

"Luckily the tyres took a lot of the impact though, so I feel fine apart from a sore neck. Unfortunately it meant I didn't get the chance to drive the car at all [on Thursday], but I set pole on Wednesday night and was really competitive straight away so we're in good shape.

"Augusto [Farfus] is a quick kid and he wouldn't have been easy to beat, but I'm confident that we could have been pretty close to pole."

Priaulx feels the BMW has a slight advantage over the rest of the GTE Pro field, with the sister #55 M3 GT claiming pole position and Priaulx's #56 car lining up on third.

"It looks like BMW have an edge this weekend though, at least over one lap. Dunlop gave us a really good qualifying tyre, which made it a pleasure to drive.

"Now we just need to concentrate on having a good car for the race. The car has better aero and better performance [than last year], so we're in good shape for sure."

Read the full interview with Andy Priaulx here