Interview with Andy Priaulx

Just 12 months after he captured the European title in the final round in Dubai, Priaulx came through the carnage of Macau to secure back-to-back titles and overcome the challenge of the world's best touring car drivers.

The result has put Priaulx, who began his racing career in hillclimbs, among exalted company. Jonathan Noble was there in Macau to witness the BMW driver's success and hear from him about what the title means.

Q. You are Britain's first motor racing world champion since Damon Hill. How does it feel?

Andy Priaulx: Yeah, it's been nine years. That feels special. I was driving around on the cooling down lap and thinking: world champion. That's weird. I don't know if things will change. I thought things would change after Dubai last year because it just seems to get tougher, but maybe now I am a world champion it will be nice to have a big Christmas turkey and be pleased with the job I did this year.

Q. Did you ever believe you would become a world champion?

AP: I always had a feeling inside that I could do it. I didn't know how far I could go but in everything I have ever driven I have always managed to win or win a championship. I have got a strong desire, I have a dream and it has become a reality to be a world champion. It hasn't sunk in just yet. It is a crazy feeling.

Q. What was the gameplan in the first race. Andre Couto got past you, then went off, and then Augusto Farfus got you and was holding the pace up. What was going through your head?

AP: This weekend I have had a lot of outside pressure and I have managed to let it bounce off me. Obviously Couto was really quick off the start, slipstreaming me and then getting past me. But I put him under pressure, he made a mistake, locked up and went off. Again on the restart, within a couple of laps, Farfus was past me at the same place. So I felt that unless he makes a mistake I am going to have to sit behind him - I just wanted to score points. I wasn't really thinking anything beyond doing the job, just not making a mistake and getting as many points as possible by finishing the first race. Then I would deal with the next race next. It was a question of taking it one step at a time this weekend.

Q. Was it frustrating that Farfus backed off the pace quite a bit, which meant the guys behind could start putting you under some pressure?

AP: It has been like that all year, so it was just another normal touring car race. All the races this year have been really tough. Everyone saw Valencia and that was just a titanic scrap, so I wasn't really panicking. I stayed calm and my heart rate was low.

Q. When did you find out that Dirk Muller had retired from the second race?

AP: I had a radio message just past the pits here saying that Dirk had pulled out. So a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. I just drove as fast as I could. In the first race I was being sensible and in the second race I pushed and you could see that I pulled up to (eventual winner) Duncan Huisman pretty quickly. So I had the speed in the car but just didn't let it happen in the first race.

Q. Was this the greatest racing weekend of your career?

AP: Absolutely. To rap up the world title was thinking back to Dubai last year and my feelings there were awesome. I cannot believe that I have won the world championship now. I think it will sink in like it did in Dubai the next day, when everything is calm and you realise you are a world champion. I just feel very proud and very lucky to have been able to do it.

Q. And does this feel even better than the European title?

AP: You know, everybody said that: 'You have won the title, now you have got to prove that it was not a fluke.' So to win it in the second year I feel really pleased with myself and very grateful to my family for letting me go away so much. I have two young children who never see their dad. My daughter was born over a Macau Grand Prix weekend a few years ago, so I've missed her birthday for the last few years. This is a good present for her.

Q. How many sacrifices have you had to make to get to this level?

AP: You have probably heard that before, but I put everything on the line for my career. I borrowed money, did whatever it took and even lived in a caravan for a while. And that wasn't just me, it was my wife as well. She worked in the ticket office at Silverstone to provide just enough money for us to eat baked beans on toast, so I put it on the line but it has been worth it.

Q. Was it a horrible feeling going into Lisboa on the first lap of that second race?

AP: You know, I just felt calm. I said to all my friends and family here: "Look, whatever happens here we are going to be third in the championship and that is fantastic." All I wanted to do this weekend was to drive well and not make any mistakes. That is what I have done and it just so happens that I have won the world championship. It could have ended in tears in the first race but this is destiny. I believed I wanted this the most.

Q. Did you cry in the car?

AP: I had a little bit of a moment there and when I saw my father, my mother and my sister - yeah, that was special.

Q. What would you say was the key moment of the season for you?

AP: Well. Highs and lows - I remember Silverstone so well, throwing all my toys out of the pram because I was leading with one lap to go when I had a puncture. But other races - like Oschersleben where I won with 60kg and on Friday here where I was on pole position with 60kg. They are crucial times. In Valencia coming from 15th on the grid to a fifth and a third, taking myself back in the fight for the championship - they are all key moments. What I am pleased about is that my bad days have been a lot better than last year. We struggled a bit more with the car this year than last to begin with, but I did it when it counted. That is not bad for a one car team - the smallest team in the pit-lane.

Q. You have dedicated this title to your old friend Will Hoy. Can you talk about that?

AP: Well, he was brilliant. He was a driver that I admire a lot and I worked with him very briefly at Honda. We formed a very good relationship and he was really trying to promote me and push me forward. At that time I really had not made my name or my reputation; I was only beginning to win races in touring cars and obviously it was tragedy for his young family what happened. So I am thinking of him and wanted to dedicate this to him.

Q. So will you have a beer tonight to celebrate?

AP: Well, I'll probably have more than one. As long as it's not my round.