How BMW star Andy Priaulx got his groove back

Dogfight. It’s the word that Andy Priaulx uses repeatedly to describe what racing in the GTLM class of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship is like, and he’s clearly relishing the challenge. After two tough years in the DTM he reveals he has “found my mojo again” after some dark times where he doubted his racing future.

Looking tanned and relaxed as we talk in the RLL BMW squad’s hauler-based nerve centre at Watkins Glen, where Priaulx arrived as points leader after some great results so far and set pole position, it’s amazing to think this three-time World Touring Car champion was at a career crossroads just recently. Two years in the DTM didn’t deliver anything like the results he’d expected.

Worse still, it made Priaulx doubt himself – had he ‘lost it’? He’d hit 40 and, metaphorically, been beaten up by some kids. Perhaps this was the time to consider hanging up his helmet? No, advised Allan McNish. No, urged David Coulthard. Thankful for these votes of confidence, Andy still wasn’t sure.

Bathurst made his mind up

Then came Bathurst. Around one of the world’s toughest tracks, a one-off with Triple Eight in the ultra-competitive V8 Supercars would surely mean another DTM-style hiding? Leading laps and a top-10 finish was a massive achievement. A week later he signed off from the DTM on a high too, a top-three start and a top-six finish at the Hockenheim finale.

“It really gave me my mojo back,” he says. “In Australia it showed I could still be really quick. We rattled the establishment there. I was really ready to do something else after the DTM; I really wanted to stay a racing driver. I did think ‘do I need this?’ I’d won lots of championships in my career, I was the number one guy at BMW for a long time, did I need to risk knocking myself back?

“It’s very difficult to say this, but I spent the first year [in DTM] blaming myself. In the second year I knew it wasn’t all me. Somehow, through the hardship, I found my confidence again. I’d had a brilliant career with BMW where I just got better and better, winning multiple titles back-to-back for four years, the Nurburgring 24 Hours – you name it. It wasn’t an enjoyable time; I was used to winning. But I always felt I had it in me.”

Fortunately his paymasters in Munich agreed, and BMW stood by their man. His new mission was to crack America on a fulltime basis after occasional stateside appearances in recent years.

“BMW very kindly sat down and talked about where I’d like to go and what they’d like to see me in,” he says. “They showed their loyalty to me after two tough years, have given me a break over here and I’ve not looked back. This is a perfect environment for me; it’s still a really big programme for BMW – I’ve done a few races here before [in the old ALMS] and won Sebring. I knew the team, and I was really excited about it.

“Recently, I’ve seen a new world. I’m not a guy who wants to make up the numbers as I get older, but I see [Gabriele] Tarquini and [Yvan] Muller still winning races in WTCC and much older guys than me winning in the BTCC too. I come over here, and I’m teamed with Bill Auberlen at 45, and he’s driving really well too. Experience counts – look at Scott Pruett over here. If you don’t stop racing, and you’ve got desire and fitness, you can go for a long time.”

Ironically, given that DTM toil to find the final half a tenth, it’s not a lack of pace that is Priaulx’s enemy this year, it’s a lack of knowledge of the tracks on the USC calendar and familiarity with its sporting rules.

“It’s a case of learning the tracks, how to work the traffic here and how the races unfold,” he says. “Watkins Glen was the first track I’d been to previously [for testing] and come back to race at. And I’ve been bang on the pace. Next year, I’m going to be able to come back and focus on the real details to make you quicker – at [previous races] Long Beach and Laguna Seca all my mental capacity was learning the track and maximising my driving.”

Renewing an old acquaintance 

One aspect that has smoothed his transition is being reunited with race engineer Bruno Couprie. Not from the DTM, or WTCC or V8 Supercars, but from his British F3 days! Priaulx says he needs all the help he can get to cope with his new surroundings.

“GT driving, especially GTLM, is one of the hardest disciplines in motor racing,” he asserts. “It’s all manufacturer supported, so you have all these works drivers fighting, and with the Balance of Performance you’ve got no let-up. It’s dogfight for three, six, 12 or 24 hours.

“On top of that you’ve got slower cars to pass, and faster cars you’ve got to let through – both of which you need to do with the minimum of lost time. The concentration levels are mega – it’s the hardest racing I’ve ever done. In a WTCC or DTM race you’re in that train, you either fight to pass or you defend like hell.

“Here, you have to pass every lap; you have to be passed every lap. You’ve got multiple levels of ability to deal with too. Even the GTD cars, which are slower than us in the corners, are faster in a straight line. If they’re well driven, they can keep you behind – so you have to divebomb them. It’s hard work; you’ve got to have eyes in the back of your head.”

Learning a new culture

There’s also a different culture in race control that he’s had to deal with too: “There’s a lot of new rules you have to learn in America, especially when it comes to contact. In Long Beach I drove a mega stint, and, for me, driving a street circuit is about mega commitment and if I come in without a wing mirror – or both – then I’ll get a pat on the back.

“I was pushing hard, took a mirror off and thought nothing of it. I radioed in, fighting for P2, ‘by the way guys, I lost a mirror’, after the pitstop we came out in last – they had to replace the door! There are lots of really strange rules like that. Did you know drivers have to have one foot on the pitwall, not both, when the car stops? With gentlemen drivers, who might be holding you up for two laps driving like a total arsehole, if you lunge him and he turns in, it’s all your fault too.”

The Six Hours at the Glen didn’t go to plan for Priaulx when a badly-timed yellow, forcing Auberlen to refuel when the pits were closed, meant track position was never regained – all part of the learning process. The points lead might be lost, but he and Auberlen are still right in the hunt for the title, and he’s loving every minute of his new adventure.

“It’s lovely driving in America, really nice out of the car too, a great bunch of guys to race against,” he says. “But in the car it’s still that dogfight, don’t underestimate it. I love that – I’m living the American dream.”