Andy Priaulx insists that he is under the same amount of pressure as everyone else, despite the fact that the Briton will be chasing a fourth-straight World Touring Car Championship title when the season kicks off in Brazil this weekend.
The BMW Team UK driver once again emerged from the season finale in Macau last year at the top of the pile meaning he once again goes into the new campaign as the man with the target on his back and the one everyone else will try to beat.
Despite that fact that Curitiba this weekend will be one of the warmest events of the season, Priaulx completed his preparations for his title defence by heading to a frozen lake 300 miles north of Stockholm for some specialist driver coaching on ice – something that was recommended by seven-time
Formula 1 title winner
Michael Schumacher.
"I'm always keen to try new things ahead of the season to help give me the edge and think it's important to step outside your comfort zone every now and then," he said. "I'd heard that Michael had tried ice driving and he reckoned that afterwards, the race circuit seemed much easier by comparison, so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's been great, I've learnt loads and it's been a good opportunity to focus on my left foot braking."
The serious business for Priaulx will now begin at a circuit where he won back in 2006 but where BMW stable-mate Augusto Farfus will receive most of the support from a partisan crowd.
Heading into the weekend, the Guernseyman admitted that there was some apprehension as to what
BMW's rivals have done over the winter but said there was nothing he could do about it except try to beat everyone else on track.
"The start of a new season is always exciting, but there is always that feeling of apprehension," he said. "You ask yourself if you have done all the work you needed to do over the winter, and also wonder what the opposition has been up to. I know that we have done all the work and there is nothing I can do about the opposition, except try to beat them on the track.
![Andy Priaulx - BMW Team GB [pic credit: RoC media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/398893.jpg)
