“That meant it wasn't such a bad weekend in all, but obviously I want to try and improve the team's performance and try and get onto the championship trail again, which is really what I want – another title. At the end of the day, people want to see a new manufacturer win, and it's up to us to see that they don't.

“I've got a good feeling [about Estoril]; I think we can go there and do quite well. I think you have to go into every weekend with the expectation to do well, but with the fear of not doing well at the same time, which makes you work hard.

“If you've got the right balance, then very often you get a good weekend's results, whereas if you go in expecting too much you come out with nothing. It needs to be balanced – you need to expect the best and plan for the worst.

“We need to try and do everything possible to win this championship, and if that means flexing our muscles with BMW and throwing something at the car to make it massively quick, that's what I hope they do. We want to get within a chance to win the championship at the end of the day, and we deserve it.”

Another special occasion for Priaulx at Brands will be the opportunity to drive a BMW Formula 1 car around the Kent circuit – an honour he has not had since he piloted Williams' BMW-powered FW27 as an official test driver for the Grove-based outfit three years ago.

Added to his recently-announced MBE and a soon-to-be-released autobiography – warmly and engagingly recalling his fight from virtually nothing to make his way up the motorsport ladder, including spending nine months spent living in a caravan at Silverstone – it is a momentous time for the BMW Team UK-backed star right now.

“It was really nice to get the envelope from the Queen,” he confessed. “To see the words 'Andy Priaulx MBE' on it is a great, unbelievable honour. I'm very proud, and it's obviously lovely for my family and my sponsors as well; they've put so much into me over the years.

“You can't expect something like that. You get the nod, you know, that you might get it, but it's not guaranteed, so I've got to be a good boy now until I meet the Queen and get the MBE pinned on my chest. Then I'll know I've got it. Unfortunately it didn't make me any quicker in Brno, but hopefully it will add to my lap time as well!

“I wanted [the autobiography] to be quite inspirational, more than anything else, so it's not just about the car and the results but really about how I put my seasons together, the struggles I had, how I found the money, a little bit about where I came from.

“There are some funny stories and some sad ones, including the one about the nine months at Silverstone. I would never do it again, but at least I did it. It was a very special time and I have very fond memories of it.