Priaulx: luck will play big factor

The Briton qualified six tenths of a second clear of nearest challenger Andre Couto but, with the reverse grid format for the second race and the nature of the track guaranteed to throw up incidents, Priaulx knows that he will need good fortune if he is to capture the crown.

"You do need luck," he said. "You make your luck and you need some luck, because although being on the front row gets me out of all the mess behind me, it doesn't stop me getting involved for the second race when I will be further down the order.

"There is also the chance of (Alfa Romeo's) Augusto Farfus trying to make a lunge up the inside under braking on the first lap, so I will have to look in my mirrors and be sensible.

"I've done Macau four times now, so hopefully I can anticipate some of the mistakes out there - not all of them but some of them. I feel I'm fast enough to win."

Priaulx is currently just one point behind BMW teammate Dirk Muller in the title chase, with Alfa Romeo's Fabrizio Giovanardi a further four points adrift.

And although Muller's sixth place on the grid and Giovanardi's ninth slot mean that Priaulx's closest challengers at the start will be drivers with nothing to lose in title terms, the Briton insists he is not worried.

"I like it this way," he added. "Dirk and Fabrizio can maybe aim for eighth place in the first race to get to the front with the reverse grid, but there will be a lot of Safety Car periods, so who knows what is going to happen. I am really going to drive as best as I can in every lap I do and hope that it is enough.

"It will be a question of finishing the race - it's going to be about survival. I'm really fired up."