Andy Priaulx could drive for West Surrey Racing at Rockingham
Andy Priaulx could yet drive for West Surrey Racing at Rockingham next month after hauling himself further up the BTCC standings with three strong finishes at Snetterton.
Priaulx is under contract with BMW to compete in the clashing European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard over the Rockingham weekend, with West Surrey Racing down to a shortlist of three drivers to stand in for him.
But both the Guernseyman and team boss Dick Bennetts didn’t rule out the possibility of him remaining in the BMW 125i M-Sport at the Northamptonshire circuit.
After a second consecutive strong weekend, Priaulx is now up to seventh in the standings, 62 points behind leader Jason Plato with 12 races remaining.
“It’s mega for us, I’m very happy. The car was strong and we had very good pace – I think we could have had a win. I’m very excited going into Knockhill,” said Priaulx to TouringCarTimes.
“For me, the big positive is for the last three races we have been fighting for pole, I have taken a lot of points in the championship and we have closed the gap to the leaders.
“It’s not my decision [whether I’m at Rockingham]. I’m just going to keep driving every car anyone gives me as fast as it can go, and we’ll see.
“If we’re in a position to win this championship this year, I’m sure BMW would want me to win it. But we’re also in a position to win the European Le Mans Series as well, so there are an awful lot of question marks. Let’s get Knockhill out of the way and worry about it after that.”
Bennetts said he was hopeful Priaulx would stay in the car, but no decision would be taken until after the next round.
“Andy wanted to wait until today to see where he fared in the points, and if we had a good day today, he’d like to make the decision after Knockhill,” said Bennetts.
“He might still speak to his sponsors and BMW, and see what can be done.
“He’s contracted with BMW so if he does [do the Le Mans round] we have a list of 14 or 15 drivers, which we have got down to three already.”
