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Priaulx hits out at 'inexcusable' driving |
Andy Priaulx rebounded from a tough opening race at Oschersleben to close the gap to the World Touring Car Championship leaders in Germany, although the defending champion was left disappointed following an accident with SEAT's Gabriele Tarquini.
Priaulx had been left with work to do on race day after qualifying down in ninth place, with Tarquini starting from second.
While the SEAT man slipped down the order as the opening race progressed, Priaulx was making progress up the field but having dived down the inside of the Italian while battling for position, Priaulx was then turned into a spin going down the following straight which saw him go off into the wall.
It left the RBM-run BMW Team UK squad with work to do to get the car ready for race two, with Priaulx starting down in 26th place. Despite being firmly on the back foot, the champion came through to take the flag in fifth place which allows him to close the gap to both Yvan Muller and Tarquini in the points race.
“I never give up and this just shows what determination does for you,” he said. “I felt the situation that saw me crash in race one was inexcusable behaviour by a professional driver. I started race two very fired up, but knew the odds were against me. However, I found my way through and this was in no small way thanks to my fellow BMW drivers.
“It is a delight to race with gentlemen and I want to say a big thank you to them. We now have to look forward to the rest of the championship, which is going to be very close.”
Tarquini picked up a time penalty and a suspended grid penalty for the incident.
