This time last year I knew where I wanted to be but I had no racing deal and it was 50/50 as to whether I would start the World Touring Car Championship season. I started the season and finished it at the half way point in Brazil after a big crash and a string of poor results even though I showed flashes of speed. This time around it’s a very different story, having being signed with one of the brightest and ambitious teams in the WTCC, GR Asia.
When my management decided that I would not continue with in the championship last year, it was the beginning of a tough time for me. It had started out as the best year of my life achieving my dream of racing in the premier Touring Car Championship in the world. I knew I would be watched and I knew that my performances were not exactly turning heads unless you looked very closely. I always put a lot of pressure on myself to perform, and it was even more pressure last year. That was 2006 and my prospects did not look good for 2007.
Or so I thought…
I had been friendly with the GR Asia boys from pretty early on in the Championship, and luckily the team owner Paul Ridgway had looked past my results and dug deeper than most and saw potential, Also he knew my background and had seen me race a couple of years ago when I was driving in the UK SEAT Cupra Championship where I had been doing my Touring Car apprenticeship.
He threw me a lifeline and an opportunity that I grabbed with both hands. This is something that I will never forget. He offered me a drive in the European Cup in Estoril held in October. I had a half test day in Valencia the week before the ETC Cup. It was enough for me to realise that I was in a good place and an environment that oozed ambition, this is not the case with so many racing teams the world over. I was not eligible to enter this race as I had not competed in a national championship but Motorsport Ireland, my governing body and the guys who give me my licence, made my entry for me under a special request to the
FIA
![Emmet O'Brien - GR Asia [pic credit: FIA ETCC]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/276153.jpg)
