ANDY PRIAULX achieved a magnificent landmark on Sunday at Brands Hatch but was in no mood to dwell on it.

ANDY PRIAULX achieved a magnificent landmark on Sunday at Brands Hatch but was in no mood to dwell on it.

The Guernseyman’s fourth race win of the year was his 16th in the World Touring Car Championship and he now leads the all-time winners’ list.

However, he is focusing not on the past but on the future and his efforts to regain the world title which he has won three times previously.

‘I may be 53 points behind championship leader, Yvan Muller, but with 25 for a win I am still determined to keep fighting as I would so love to get “my” title back,’ Priaulx said.

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ANDY PRIAULX achieved a magnificent landmark on Sunday at Brands Hatch but was in no mood to dwell on it.

The Guernseyman’s fourth race win of the year was his 16th in the World Touring Car Championship and he now leads the all-time winners’ list.

However, he is focusing not on the past but on the future and his efforts to regain the world title which he has won three times previously.

‘I may be 53 points behind championship leader, Yvan Muller, but with 25 for a win I am still determined to keep fighting as I would so love to get “my” title back,’ Priaulx said.

‘Now we are also heading for circuits that suit our car, so there is another reason to be optimistic.

‘We are challengers for the championship, but we are ambitious challengers and hopefully we can take the fight to the last weekend in Macau.’

To call Priaulx’s weekend at Brands Hatch a mixed bag would be an understatement.

Wanting to have a great meeting at his ‘home’ circuit, he started off on Saturday with a brilliant free practice session and ended with a €1,500 fine.

In between, he clocked the sixth quickest qualifying time, which was turned into 16th on the grid

‘I have not been in motor racing for well over two decades not to learn to roll with the punches,’ said the Sarnian.

‘The grid drop was due to just one of those things that happen and there is nothing you can do about it.

‘When the team was getting the car ready for the weekend on Thursday an unfortunate set of circumstances saw my engine blow. A change was necessary and the rules say that if you do this more than once over four consecutive races then the penalty is a grid drop.

‘Rules are rules and so I had to work out overnight how I was going to deal with this and still come away from Brands Hatch with championship points and in touch with the guys at the top of the table.

‘As for the fine, it was because I set a quicker sector time when the yellow flags were out in free practice. I contend there was nothing I could do as I was too far along in the sector when I saw them. However, again rules are rules and I am hoping my team boss, Bart Mampaey, will feel sorry for me and pay the fine,’ he added wryly.

A position of 16th on the grid for race one might have looked grim, but Priaulx was soon on the move once the lights turned green.

He moved up four places on lap one and his momentum continued as he made his way up to ninth after lap six to be tantalisingly close to all-important eighth and pole position for race two.

Following a safety car period, Priaulx set his sights on passing Tiago Monteiro’s Seat.

‘I followed him for a couple of laps and knew I had to take any small window of opportunity he presented as Brands is a notoriously difficult track for overtaking,’ said the BMW driver.

‘On lap 14 he did just that and I was able to muscle by.

‘It was pretty hectic as we were all very close and then on the last lap I had to contend with Alain Menu, who was dropping back from the front of the field. He obviously also wanted eighth. I am delighted to say I beat him to it.’

That meant pole for race two, but Priaulx did not get the best of starts and was beaten to the first corner by his teammate Augusto Farfus.

However, he stuck close to him and when an opportunity presented itself on lap three, he was able to get by safely at Druids and take the lead while Farfus then collided with Menu, who also wanted to get by.

‘I was sorry for Augusto but had to then get on with the race,’ Priaulx said.

‘I was able to control it from the front and had a BMW rear gunner for the rest of the distance. This time it was Colin Turkington, who was there to make sure we got a BMW one-two.

‘This win was pretty special for me in many ways. It was at my home race, I had all my family and friends there as well as my loyal fans, it was my fourth of the season, it was the 16th of my FIA WTCC career and I am now head of the all-time winners’ list. It also meant that I retained third in the drivers’ championship standings.’

Priaulx is now looking forward to the Czech Republic meeting at Brno in a couple of weeks before the summer break.

He also revealed that an extra date has been added to his schedule during that break.

‘I have been invited by Tom Kristensen to race in the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix in August,’ he said. ‘They have some amazing old BMW cars so I am really excited about this chance.’FIA World Touring Car Championship: Guernseyman remains third in the drivers’ standings