Priaulx lasts longer than Mansell at Le Mans
Tuesday 15th June 2010, 2:29PM BST.
ANDY PRIAULX did not have the best of Le Mans 24 Hour debuts, but at least he bettered the Jersey resident on show.
Priaulx’s race ended in disappointment as his BMW team failed to finish, the team completing only 53 laps of the 13.629km circuit, before colliding with Audi’s Tom Kristensen, who went on to finish third.
Despite the crash, Priaulx still outperformed Jersey’s 1992 Formula 1 world champion Nigel Mansell.
The 56-year-old, who was racing alongside sons Greg and Leo, crashed into the barrier only 18 minutes into the day-long event having completed four laps and required hospital treatment for the 150mph-plus crash.
Priaulx, a triple world touring car champion, next turns out for BMW in Zolder in the next round of the WTCC. He sits fourth in the overall standings, 26 points behind the leader.
- Read the full story in the Guernsey Press. See below for subscription details.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Island Life
All about Guernsey
Ambassador of the Year 2011
History & Heritage
Visitor Information
Guernsey's government
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
Mansell had a puncture which put him into the wall (and he was knocked out). Andy on the other hand just had a poor race. You can’t compare Priaulx to Mansell! Mansell is in a different league in terms of achievement I’m afraid and you can’t try and bolster Priaulx like this – I suspect he will be embarrassed by your article too. I am a Guernseyman in case you are wondering.
Report abuse
Congrats to Andy Priaulx for outlasting the 87 year old former F1 champion.
Sorry did i say F1…that’s right….Boyd spot on.
Fair dues AP is a world champion…but then again so is Alison Merrien…but se ain’t no Usain Bolt
Report abuse
Two world class drivers…… Unbelievable that any comparisons need to be made and just because they live on two different Channel Islands.
I think Matt Lihou just approached this article from the wrong angle.
Report abuse
Boyd
‘Andy on the other hand just had a poor race’
Yes that’s what happens when your car breaks down
Report abuse
Ray – I think Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen might disagree with you (after their potentially victorious Audi was punted into the wall by Andy who was on the wrong racing line with a puncture)
Report abuse
I can imagine a conversation between Priaulx and Mansell now:
Priaulx: “Ha ha Nigel I did 49 more laps than you”
Mansell: “How many F1 World Championships have you won Andy, or for that matter how many F1 drives have you had?”
Joking over, I agree with Boyd and Simon; I think Andy Priaulx would be embarrassed by the GP clutching at straws and using him to get one up on the crapauds.
Report abuse
Yes, any comparisons are a bit daft really and the headline solely to sell papers.
Mansell won an F1 world champsionship, and was widely considered one of the out and out fastest drivers ever.
Mr Priaulx I seem to remember did fairly terribly in his F1 jaunt.
Report abuse
I dont think we should underplay what Andy has achieved, but comparisons in motorsport and over different events and eras is a non starter.
Andy P has proved himself on the World stage time and time again and Mansell was an F1 champion….
The only issue here is the wrong slant on a story!
Report abuse
I’ll bet Mike Tyson could have whupped Amir Khan
Report abuse
Talk about comparing apples with oranges!! Triple FIA World Touring Car Champion vs 1 time FIA F1 Champion? No-one knows if Andy could have had a good F1 career as he never had the sponsorship deals to try out for it.
My friends came back from their regular jaunt to Le Man and said that they have never seen a race with so many punctures, and that it was due to a new type of gravel being used in the gravel traps! it sounds new snow to me but hey I wasn’t there!!!
Report abuse
Yeah, Andy’s really not very good. I mean it can’t really be that difficult to beat just 50-60 of the world’s best drivers back-to-back for three years.
Amongst those drivers were several le mans winners that can throw a sportscar around a track significantly quicker than an F1 driver (and many F1 drivers have raced at le mans with varied success), and they do so for repeated 4-6hr stretches.
If your definition of success is F1 then you probably need to watch a slightly more diverse selection of motorsport to see what you’re missing. There are many classes requiring many different skills, most of which require the driver to be a significantly greater part of the package than they are in F1.
For what it’s worth I’ve always held rally drivers and le mans drivers as the pinnacle of motorsport, but WTCC would also rank up there highly.
Just my 2p.
Report abuse
I dont think anyone on here is saying that F1 is the ultimate definition of motorsport success.
However there is a certain ex-WTCC champion who was desperate to get into F1 to “prove himself alongside the best”
Odd that eh?? After all, what would a multi-time WTCC champion know about the respective merits of driver fields.
Report abuse