GLORIOUS victory one moment, despair at retirement the next. Andy Priaulx’s emotions could not have taken more of a massive swing than they did yesterday in rounds seven and eight of the European Touring Car Championship at Hocken-heim.

Race one saw the Guernseyman blaze his way through the field to take the chequered flag and, momentarily at least, sit in second place in the overall standings.

‘I have a big grin on my face as I won the first race at Hockenheim fair and square and didn’t have to rely on being eighth in the first race and starting from pole,’ Priaulx said.

‘Don’t get me wrong, I have no big problem with winning a race this way as I did it in Magny Cours. It is just I have a real feeling of satisfaction from starting well up on the grid, making a good start and then overtaking the guy in front with a good manoeuvre.’

Then came the disappointment. While working his way through the field in race two – he started in eighth position on the grid after that first-race victory – Priaulx was bumped by Luca Rangoni in his Alfa Romeo.

‘For some reason as I was overtaking the Italian he just turned into me really hard as I was alongside him. To add insult to injury he did this several times,’ said Priaulx.

‘The impact must have broken a pipe and I had to park my BMW on the side of the track and walk back to the pits. I was not happy with him.

‘At the end of the race I went to find him to have a ﾓfriendlyﾔ chat about the incident, but as luck would have it he doesn’t speak a word of English.’

Priaulx had qualified third-fastest for race one. He was quickly up to second, thanks to a fine overtaking manoeuvre on Garcia. He was helped by a crash at the end of lap one in which all three main Alfas took each other out of the race.

Priaulx pulled away steadily over the 11 laps of a dry track to win by some four seconds from Dirk Muller. His fastest lap was his fifth, which he completed at an average speed of 149.88 kmph.

Race two saw him work up through the field from eighth to fourth before the clash with Rangoni and retirement.

Victory in the first race moved Priaulx up to fourth in the drivers’ championship, on 41 points. Jorg Muller leads on 50, two ahead of Dirk Muller, with Gabriele Tarquini third on 43.

Five podium positions out of six for BMW in Hockenheim have put them in a commanding lead in the manufacturers’ championship, on 116 points to Alfa Romeo’s 83, with Seat third on 29.