This Is Guernsey

By Aaron Scoones

ANDY PRIAULX cannot wait for Sunday’s Race of Champions at Wembley. ‘It’s going to be really good,’ said the three-time World Touring Car Champion.

‘It’s a unique concept that’s going to have a big appeal to the crowd, going from Paris last year, and it’s going to be better this year especially with names like Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button taking part.’

The idea behind the event is to have racing drivers from different disciplines take each other on using identical equipment and track.

The home of English football has been converted into a bona fide race circuit with a parallel tarmac track laid out over the pitch.

Priaulx is excited to be racing in the 90,000-seater stadium.

It is also being shown live on Sky Sports 2.

‘To be honest, I never thought that one day I’d be racing around Wembley,’ he said.

‘I’m privileged to be involved with these drivers and to get close to the British public. I’m pretty well known in Europe and hopefully this will raise my profile here.’

Priaulx is partnered in the England team by Formula One star Button.

Other drivers include David Coulthard, Nascar’s Jimmie Johnson from America, Renault F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen and Priaulx’s WTCC rival Yvan Muller of France.

Priaulx could also face Schumacher, who is in the German team, on the track and he is hoping that he does get to take on the seven-time F1 champion.

‘I fancy that - it would be a great challenge,’ he said.

‘I just hope that I don’t pick him in the first round. Last year I got Colin McRae, bless his soul, in the first round in a rally car but I beat him.’

This year’s event will be dedicated to rally legend McRae who tragically died in a helicopter crash in September.

His younger brother and 1995 British rally champion, Alistair, is racing for Scotland alongside Coulthard.

‘It will be a lovely memorial and it’s great to drive with his brother,’ said Priaulx.

‘It’s going to be a great celebration of his career. Our thoughts are going to be with his family and I hope that we can put on a great show for Colin.’

Priaulx is keen not to have a repeat of last year’s event at which, in his quarter-final with Frenchman Sebastian Bourdais, he thought he saw the chequered flag waved but it was in the crowd and not in the hands of a race marshal.

He eased off and lost the race.

‘I’m going to run the marshals over to make sure I finish this year,’ he joked.