“We've got a bit of a fight on our hands. In fact, I would say it would be nice to actually have a fight, but much of the time we've got to drive around for eighth or ninth or tenth place, which isn't a lot of fun.”
That notwithstanding, Priaulx nevertheless secured a rostrum finish in the second race at Curitiba in Brazil – having taken the chequered flag fourth in the curtain-raiser – but Puebla in Mexico was rather more of a struggle, with eighth position in race two the high point of a frustrating weekend.
Qualifying has been the 33-year-old's biggest Achilles' heel thus far in 2008, having lined up just twelfth on the grid on both occasions. As he now sits fifth in the title chase – the highest-placed non-SEAT driver in the series – Priaulx acknowledged that
BMW are very much on the back foot, but he vowed to fight on until the end, a characteristically gritty approach and the very same attitude that has yielded him the laurels four years in succession.
“At the moment, it's very difficult going into a weekend and having any expectations at all,” he insisted. “The only expectations are those of myself really, and I've got to try to keep sharp so that hopefully when things are equalised a little bit I'll be in a good position to fight for the championship again.
“My job at the moment is just to make sure I get the car as good as I can have it and try to be driving at my very best. Anything less than that I'll be disappointed with really.
“It's not a circuit-by-circuit thing. Mexico for sure wasn't the best place for BMW with the altitude and the nature of the circuit, but I think at the moment most circuits are suiting the SEAT.
“It's very easy to be tenth, twelfth or 14th on the grid, because Chevrolet are really fast, SEAT are really quick, Honda now coming into the championship are going to be really quick too…whilst we're still carrying 20 kilos more than the front wheel-drive cars, plus we're only allowed a five-speed gearbox rather than a sequential gearbox. It's quite a strange situation to be in really.
