Being a single car team has its bonuses with 100 per cent focus being on me as a driver, and I don’t have to worry about a team-mate within the team – although I have had several with Magnussen and Huisman over the years. That was why I have had to deal with things in a different way and it has improved my driving and taken my engineering capabilities to a new level as I am very precise with my feedback which is important.
Q:
Looking forward to 2007 we know of a few changes already.
BMW has some new faces in Farfus and Porteiro, James Thompson returns to N.technology and we aren’t totally sure yet on who SEAT will go with. What are you expecting from the year ahead?
Andy Priaulx:
I know that these guys are coming into BMW and Farfus has been quick for the last few years and will be a fast team-mate. I think the new guys will be very quick but lets wait and see what happens, because it is one thing being quick over one lap and winning one race, but winning championships is what is important and you have to win races and be consistent over the year to do that. I believe that is where the experience comes into play. I’m relatively young at 32 years old and am still at the top of my game.
I have the speed and the experience and I don’t worry about one or two drivers – I worry about the 25 others who need to be beaten. I’ll do my job in the same way as I have done in the last three or four years and we’ll see who is the champion at the end of it.
Q:
We have some changes to the calendar for the new season, like a few more street races. What do you make of the changes made?
Andy Priaulx:
They are absolutely brilliant. Street races are without doubt the best spectacle. They really are great races like Macau and Pau. I haven’t been to Pau or Porto yet but I am looking forward to the challenge of competing on a new circuit. Street circuits bring a bit of glamour and a bit of danger and the racing on those circuits has been good for the last few years. I’m really pleased to have three really good street circuits on the calendar and I enjoy driving on them, it is very precise and requires a different driving style that seems to suit me. Hopefully I can use that to my advantage.
Q:
At Macau you always seem to get that BMW as close to the wall as possible without hitting – at Pau in particular that will be key as we’ve seen how tight and twisty that circuit is.
Andy Priaulx:
I’m really looking forward to it – I’m a hill-climber, I like narrow roads and I’m used to driving in Guernsey on narrow roads! In Macau, I hit the wall five times on my qualifying lap. When I say hit the wall, I mean brushed it, and I enjoy driving in a confined space. Macau is one of the fastest street circuits in the world and you don’t make mistakes around there, so I believe anything after that won’t be easy but will be a different challenge. Let’s wait and see, but the guy who wins races and championships is the one who doesn’t make mistakes.
Q:
You briefly mentioned the change in weight regulations. How much will that come into play?
Andy Priaulx:
I think the
FIA have got their weight system pretty much sorted for this year and they aren’t going to allow a run away winner. I think it will mean that instead of championship leading drivers fighting for P20 because they have 80 kilos of ballast, or sometimes up to a 100 kilo difference because they gave -20 to Alfa Romeo and -20 to Zanardi, they will keep the differences between the drivers under control so you won’t see a run away winner.
Q:
Another change is a bigger gap between races. The teams will still only have a limited amount of time to work on the cars but how will that affect you as a driver?
