ANDY PRIAULX is confident of maintaining his bright start to the World Touring Car Championship when the series arrives in Europe at the weekend. After a break of almost two months since the season opener in Brazil, the next round of the WTCC is taking place in the Netherlands on Sunday.
The testing sessions in Brno, Oschersleben and Monza during the race-free period saw intensive work done on the BMW 320si WTCC by all the manufacturer’s drivers.
‘Our recent schedule has been pretty rigorous,’ said Priaulx.
‘During testing in Brno our BMW Team UK was the quickest there. Then we went to Oschersleben and Monza. So all said our preparations for the start of racing in Europe have been very good.
‘But we need that because the challenges ahead of us are anything but easy.
‘In Zandvoort we will have to get used to the changing conditions. The winds are sometimes very gusty and the track grip can change from one second to the next.’
BMW made a fantastic start to the season in Curitiba.
Over both races, the two BMW Team Germany drivers Jorg Muller and Auguso Farfus, together with defending champion Priaulx from BMW Team UK, shared the three podium places among themselves.
However, because of the good result from Brazil the trio must now each cope with 35kg of handicap weight in rounds three and four.
The first race car event at Circuit Park Zandvoort took place on 7 August 1948. Since that time this track, now 4.3km long, has been the place where motorsport fans in the Netherlands gather to indulge in their passion.
Formula One visited Zandvoort a total of 30 times between 1952 and 1985.
This is the first time, though, that Zandvoort has hosted an event in the World Touring Car Championship race calendar.
Article posted on 2nd May, 2007 - 12.00am
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