Andy Priaulx: Coming home.

Thursday, 18th May 2006

In his latest Crash.net column, World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx looks forward to the British round of the WTCC – taking place this weekend at Brands Hatch.

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Now back to the news of the week – my F1 outings. BMW has given me the chance to drive the BMW Sauber F1.06 for the first time at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Sadly it is not in the race, but it is in the BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park which is bringing F1 to the fans and is situated on the outside of the track at Becketts. It is a fabulous concept and I know that in Grand Prix circles it is a bit of a revolution.

Basically what BMW has done is build a replica of the hallowed pit lane in a public area. The fans can see an F1 car running down a 90 metre piece of tarmac and then get involved in interactive games. This was launched at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and I understand the German fans loved it. They not only see the F1 car driving a few yards away from them, but also the Formula BMW car. There are show cars in pit lane garages, technical exhibits, an interactive F1 quiz, team merchandise, and a Speaker’s Corner where they can ask the F1 drivers questions when they make guest appearances. Apart from the fact this is a unique opportunity for the fans, it is all free and up to 16,000 can get in at any one time.

This is in June and then in July I am going to the Goodwood Festival of Speed to drive the F1 car up the famous hill. This has become an event that is one of the most popular in the UK and I shall be driving the F1 car there. Apart from being a full time F1 driver, life doesn’t get much better than this. Anyway I had better stop dreaming about being an F1 driver and get back to being a WTCC driver.