ANDY PRIAULX was yesterday hailed as the most successful touring car driver of all time. The Guernseyman’s exploits on Sunday in clinching his third successive World Touring Car Championship featured prominently in many national newspapers.
Chief Minister Mike Torode said Priaulx had raised the island’s profile internationally and Guernsey was very proud of him.
‘It shows the mark of a great racing driving when you can perform under that sort of pressure. His consummate skill and the level of dedication are almost miraculous,’ he said.
Priaulx’s mother-in-law, Lorna Le Tocq, conceded that her son-in-law’s success had reduced her to tears.
She, husband Louis, friends and family, had watched events unfold from their Torteval home.
Daughter Jo had sent her a message from Macau saying that while her husband’s qualifying had been disappointing he should not be written off and she asked them to think positive.
‘By the seventh lap of the first race we were a little bit down, then all of a sudden it turned around,’ said Mrs Le Tocq.
‘When we found out that Andy had finished eighth in the first race everybody shouted and we woke the children up.’
Seb Priaulx, 6, had watched his father’s first race and for race two, sister Danniella, 4, and their cousins Curtis and Libby Le Tocq, aged seven and 10 respectively, also sat around the TV.
‘From my point of view I think it was the most stressful of all the world title showdowns. I wasn’t sure it would be Andy’s year. But now I think it was the best and winning three in a row is something special.’
BMW director of motor sport Mario Theissen was quoted in The Times as saying that Priaulx’s achievements in touring cars were unsurpassed.
‘If you include the European Championship from 2004, Andy has now won the highest FIA Touring Car Championship four times in succession. This underlines his position as the most successful touring car driver of all time,’ he said.
Autosport magazine news editor Charles Bradley said Priaulx’s achievements were incredible.
‘Touring cars is one of the harshest environments in motor sport as they are always banging wheels,’ he said.
‘So to win four titles, back-to-back, in that sort of environment and such a hard discipline is amazing.’
He said Priaulx was definitely up there with the best when it came to touring car drivers but there was no real definitive as you could not compare drivers from one era with those from another.
* The Bailiff and Deputy Bailiff congratulated Andy on his achievement, prior to the champion’s anticipated arrival at Guernsey Airport this morning.
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