Andy Priaulx, with damage to the front of his car clearly visible, passes George Tanev as he attempts to recover from a first-corner incident. (Picture by FIA WTCC)

TWO down, 22 races to go.

But Andy Priaulx already is playing catch up after collecting just two points on the opening weekend in Curitiba, Brazil.

Promoted to seventh place in race one after two rivals were penalised after the chequered flag, the three-times world champion started the second race on the front row of the grid but quickly slipped down the field.

He was surprisingly philosophical afterwards.

‘What a weekend. I was just relieved to finish race one despite a puncture and a deflating tyre and I was feeling pretty confident for race two from the front row of the grid.

‘Sadly, what I felt would be a good race for me turned into a nightmare. For some reason I just could not drive the car in the wet conditions and I was going backwards in race two.

‘It was a shame as up to then I was happy with how things had gone, so I can’t say everything is negative. It was just one of those things and now I am looking forward to Puebla [Mexico].’

There were no signs of problems ahead in the early stage of qualifying.

But his team tactics for the deciding session backfired.