On a weekend that had initially promised very little, Andy Priaulx nonetheless got his quest for a fourth World Touring Car crown off to a good start with fifth and second place finishes in Curitiba.
Having been unable to explain the reasons of his 12th place starting position, tweaks to his Team UK 320si overnight soon had Priaulx lapping at the ultimate pace, the Guernseyman quickly getting up into a crucial top eight position early on.
Going on to make the most his
BMW's greater strength in the latter stages of the race, his overtaking of both Jordi Gene and Gabriele Tarquini on the penultimate lap were enough to see him classified a satisfying fifth.
Starting fourth for the second race, Priaulx ran third for much of the time before executing a neat manoeuvre on BMW counterpart Felix Porteiro at the half-way point to move into second place.
Although his attempts to wrestle the win off Gabriele Tarquini proved fruitless, Priaulx was nonetheless delighted to be leaving Brazil with 12 points and third in the standings, particularly in light of his struggles in qualifying.
“I am extremely happy with this weekend and it was the best possible results I could have expected. After qualifying 12th I knew we had a big job ahead of us, but my team never lets me down and the turn round has been great.
“I can't thank the RBM boys enough as it was due to their hard work that I was able to finish fifth in race one and second in race two.”
![Andy Priaulx - BMW Team UK BMW 320si [pic credit: FIA WTCC]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/412099.jpg)
