WHAT better way than in his 100th race for BMW, Andy Priaulx wraps up his third straight world Championship at Monza tomorrow. The Guernseyman sits on 81 points with just four rounds remaining as he looks to make it a hat-trick of world titles.

Augusto Farfus jr is second on 69 with the two Mullers, Yvan and Jorg, in third and fourth on 67 and 66 points respectively.

But crucially going into rounds 19 and 20 on the famous Italian circuit, Priaulx and all his rivals have the same handicap weight of 60kg.

Graham Priaulx, Andy’s father, is not expecting his son to complete the job in Italy.

That, he expects, will happen at the last meeting of the championship in Macau next month, just like in 2006.

‘I don’t think it’s going to be quite that easy but there is a possibility of him doing it [this weekend],’ said Priaulx sr from Monza yesterday.

‘We think he can do a very good job here, but the aim is to maintain his lead going into Macau. He’s got 60kg and there are a lot of cars with 55kg and 50kg of lead and some have a handicap of minus 50kg.

‘There will be 34 cars out there with the same aim of trying to prevent Andy from winning the title. Winning world championships is never easy. It will be exciting.’

Priaulx sr also pointed out that the track will suit the new Seat turbo diesels. The car was disallowed at the start of the season but has recently been given the green light to see action.

‘There are some very fast straights and the turbo Seats can go very fast in straight lines,’ he said Priaulx.

Tomorrow will mark a century of races by Priaulx for BMW in the World and European touring car championships.

But it’s been a success story virtually all the way.

In only his second full season with BMW he won the 2004 European title and claimed the world title in both 2005 and 2006 for BMW Team UK.

He has driven a BMW in 58 WTCC and 40 ETCC races, scoring 16 wins and claiming 41 podium finishes.

Priaulx took his maiden European victory on 25 May 2003 in Brno and the fans in Oschersleben witnessed his first ever WTCC win in 2005.

To date he has scored six pole positions and 14 fastest race laps.

‘It has always been my goal to become integrated with a major car manufacturer on a long-term basis,’ said Priaulx.

‘It makes me proud that my cooperation with BMW, one of the best brands in the world, has lasted so long and that we have been able to celebrate so many triumphs together. Hopefully at least another 100 races and more successes lie ahead of us.’

As one partnership celebrates a milestone there is also cause for celebration as Chevrolet have confirmed their future to the WTCC. The manufacturer came on board for the 2005 season and they have now decided to extend their original three-year agreement.