ANDY PRIAULX has a weight off his mind as he returns to the scene of the sole race victory of his victorious 2005 World Touring Car Championship campaign this weekend. To be exact, he has lost 20kg from his car as the series visits in Oschersleben, Germany, for rounds seven and eight of the season and the Guernseyman is looking to put the disappointment of Brands Hatch behind him.

In his home event two weeks ago, the BMW Team UK driver slid off the track in driving rain when leading race two. He recovered to finish in the points in eighth but lost ground on driver-standings leader Yvan Muller.

However, the Frenchman will now be weighed down by a 75kg handicap in Germany – 5kg more than Priaulx carried in England.

The Sarnian, who is hindered by 50kg this time, believes that the new rules regarding ballast may have been tinkered with once too often.

‘I think this idea of success ballast may have gone a bit too far,’ he told The Observer.

‘The racing is pretty close as it is. At Monza for the first round, we had 25 cars covered by less than 1.5 seconds. I won, so for the next round at Magny-Cours, I had a 45kg penalty.

‘I was ninth on the grid, but a tenth of a second faster would have put me fourth and a tenth slower I would have been 15th.’

BMW drivers have won seven of the previous eight races in Oschersleben in the WTCC and the preceding European version.

Priaulx, who has become the master of consistently picking up points, took victory in race one last year and was runner-up in race two.

Having gone to Brands Hatch as championship leader, the Guernseyman is now looking to close the nine-point gap between himself and the top of the standings.

The two WTCC rounds are both 14-lap races, covering a total distance of 51.38 kilometres each race. The races are on Sunday afternoon and Eurosport provide live coverage.