Andrew Graham Priaulx,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

( born 8 August 1974) is a British professional racing driver from

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

. In 2019 he raced for

Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship ...

in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

, and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the FIA World Touring Car Cup, having been a former BMW factory driver. He is a European Touring Car Championship champion, three times World Touring Car Championship champion and the only FIA Touring Car champion to win an international-level championship for four consecutive years (2004 to 2007). The previous record was Roberto Ravaglia's three successive championships (1986–1988).

Racing career

Born in

, Priaulx has competed in many types of motorsport, beginning in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

at the minimum age of eight. After a brief flirtation with powerboat racing, he started hillclimbing while still a teenager, sharing a car with his father Graham. It was quickly apparent that he had great natural ability, and few people were surprised when he took the

British Hillclimb Championship The British Hill Climb Championship (BHCC) is the most prestigious Hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. Hillclimbing in the British Isles has a rich history, for example, the hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is th ...

title in 1995. After this, he made the switch to circuit racing, where after a relatively low-key couple of years in Formula Renault UK Championship and

British Formula 3 The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seate ...

he eventually demonstrated his skills were transferable by switching to the Renault Spider championship in 1998, completely dominating it in 1999. His career stalled somewhat when he returned to British Formula 3 in 2000–01. He had some success at this level, but despite finishing sixth in the championship in 2001 was unable to progress further up the single-seater ladder.

Touring cars

In 2001 Priaulx had a pair of

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...

(BTCC) guest drives for the Egg Vauxhall team, standing in for the suspended Phil Bennett. He stunned the regulars by taking pole position on his debut at Oulton Park, demonstrating that his future appeared to lie in that direction. The following year he was signed by the works

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

BTCC team for their

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

campaign. He won one race and finished on the podium in two others, and the following season was signed by Bart Mampaey's BMW UK team for their European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) effort. He was in contention for the title until late in the year, eventually finishing third. Priaulx also occasionally guested in Australian

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

racing, competing at the Bathurst 1000km in 2002 with Yvan Muller in a Kmart Racing Commodore and 2003 with

Cameron McLean Cameron McLean (born 14 December 1967) is an Australian former racing driver. Career McLean began racing at age 14 in karts. He came to prominence when he won the 1995 Australian Sports Sedan Championship in a BMW M3. McLean won the 1997 ...

again in a Kmart Commodore, and also the Sandown 500 km in 2003. 2004 saw Priaulx win a major circuit racing championship, as he became ETCC champion after a season-long battle with Dirk Müller. Both men obtained the same number of points, but Priaulx had won five races as against Müller's three, and this was sufficient to hand the Priaulx the title. Priaulx repeated his 2004 success in 2005, 2006 and 2007, clinching the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC, essentially the same series, with two races outside Europe in 2005 and three in 2006) at the final round in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. In 2005, he won the crown with two second-place finishes in the final round when his nearest rivals, Dirk Müller and

Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi (born 14 December 1966 in Sassuolo) is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver worldwide. He has s ...

both failed to score. The following year, a win in the opening race of the final meeting left him needing to finish fifth in the final event to beat Jörg Müller by a single point, which he achieved. Andy Priaulx and Yvan Muller 2007 Curitiba

Andy Priaulx and Yvan Muller 2007 Curitiba

Heading into the final meeting of the 2007 WTCC season at

, Priaulx was joint leader of the championship alongside former BTCC champion Yvan Muller. He came eighth in the first race and won from pole position in the second race to claim his and BMW's third WTCC championship in a row. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. Andy Priaulx 2010 WTCC Race of Japan (Free Practice 1)

Priaulx again raced in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW Team UK in 2009, finishing fourth in the standings. As well as the WTCC, he competed in selected rounds of the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

for BMW and a number of races in the Australian V8 Supercars championship, driving a Walkinshaw Racing

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

with David Reynolds at the Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance races. In 2010, Priaulx continued to race in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW and competed in several races for BMW in the Le Mans Series,

2010 Armor All Gold Coast 600 The 2010 Armor All Gold Coast 600 was the eleventh event of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 22 to 24 October at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Queensland. V8 Supercars became the naming right categ ...

in V8 Supercars with

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Supe ...

, Race of Champions, as well as the

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

BMW M3 DTM (E92) of Team RMG (10074873525)

On 5 December 2010, BMW announced that it would not be continuing its factory effort in the World Touring Car Championship from

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

onwards. It was announced on 25 January 2011, that Priaulx contest the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

for BMW, as well as undertaking testing duties for BMW with cars from other racing categories. Priaulx spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons racing for BMW in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, scoring his best result in the final round of the 2013 season at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...

, where he finished in sixth after starting in third. He switched to racing in the

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

in the United States for 2014. In January 2015 it was announced at Autosport International that Priaulx would return to the British Touring Car Championship for 2015 with West Surrey Racing, campaigning a BMW 125i M Sport, combining his BTCC programme with racing works BMWs in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

and the

North American Endurance Cup The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

. On 10 December 2018, it was announced that Priaulx will join Lynk & Co Cyan Racing for the

2019 World Touring Car Cup The 2019 World Touring Car Cup was the second season of the World Touring Car Cup and 15th overall of World Touring Cars promoted by Discovery Sports Events, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The drivers' championship w ...

season, partnering former WTCC champions Yvan Muller, Thed Björk and Yvan's nephew Yann Ehrlacher. On 17 November 2019, Priaulx secured his maiden win in the FIA World Touring Car Cup in Macau.

Ford WEC

Chip Ganassi Ford GT Priaulx Silverstone 2018

On 5 December 2015, it was announced that Priaulx had parted ways with BMW after a 13-year stint with the German manufacturer to join

for their upcoming debut in the

2016 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fifth edition of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). Th ...

season. He was officially unveiled as a Ford driver on 5 January 2016 alongside teammates Marino Franchitti, Stefan Mücke, and Olivier Pla.

Personal life

Priaulx's son

Sebastian Priaulx Sebastian "Seb" Priaulx (born 18 January 2001) is a British racing driver who competes for Proton Competition, Dempsey-Proton Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Career Early career Priaulx was introduced to motorsports at a karting ...

is also a racing driver. He competed in the 2019 British GT Championship and was in contention for the GT4 title, driving with

Scott Maxwell __NOTOC__ Scott Maxwell (born January 20, 1964), is a Canadian auto racing driver. Scott has competed and won titles in Formula Vee (1984), Formula Ford 1600 (1985 and 1986), Canadian National Showroom Stock (1992 and 1993) and Grand-Am/Continen ...

, but lost out on the title to Tom Canning and Ash Hand by 8.5 points.

Nationality

Although Priaulx is British, he has occasionally been mistakenly identified as French due to his surname, which is common in

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

countries; a French national flag was displayed above the podium at the first race in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

in the 2007 WTCC season.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Priaulx was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded)

Complete V8 Supercar Championship results

+ Not Eligible for points

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † — Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of the race distance

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Cup results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of the race distance.

Complete British GT Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links