.
testing all through the winter – before I had even negotiated my contract – but still pretty sharp. Compared to the previous year when I was learning my way at that level really, I started winning much earlier.
Then, of course, the ‘success ballast’ came into play. The more successful you were, the more ballast you had to carry in the next race. It was a ploy by the series administration to try and keep the racing close and exciting and in its way it worked. But I never felt it was fair. It just meant that if you did your job and you were the fastest, once you proved it and started winning they tried to make sure you could not win any more!
That was not my only problem though. I remember feeling like I was a marked man that year. And it was only because I was fast and successful. People were already starting to get quite cold with me and I guess it came from the political pressures that were created by massive expectations generated by the big factory teams. Obviously, there was some tension among the teams and the atmosphere was getting a bit harder, a bit more serious; more tense, I suppose. In the first year, everyone was patting me on the back (I ended up as the only BMW driver after race one at the end of the first year in the final race at Monza). Then, after that, the affection seemed to dry up. I was no longer just a driver in the pack, but a threat to some people’s self-appointed intentions, in terms of racing success and titles.
There were no more pats on the back. I guess Lewis Hamilton had to go through a similar sort of experience after his brilliant rookie season in Formula One with McLaren Mercedes. When you have proved yourself, everyone else says: ‘Ok, now really prove yourself because we are the big boys and we bounce back…’ I do not know how personal it was, but in some ways I was still a bit naïve and less experienced than these guys. I understood the sport, but all the politics was a bit of a new thing for me. So, I did what I knew best – I got on with it, I put my head down and I worked and worked at everything.
I had some good wins that year. I won at Magny-Cours, Hockenheim, Brno, Donington and Oschersleben. The key moment during the season was reaching a point, about three-quarters of the way through, when I was in with a really serious chance of winning the championship. At some stages I was leading, at others I was behind, what with the extra weight and the reverse grids (the finishing order of the top eight drivers was reversed after the first race at each meeting for the second race).
I was always there in the mix. The year before, I had come from way behind and almost stolen the title right at the end, but this time I was one of the main contenders all season. I was loving it and I was pushing hard.
I had earned my position to be there, fighting for the championship, and there was still a really good chance that I could win it. Dirk did his job well but in Oschersleben it did not work out for him. I was quicker than him in qualifying, I made a great start in race one, got ahead of him and made sure I put two cars between us before going on to win. Then in race two, to put it bluntly and honestly, I was driven off the road!
I was crashed into and it seemed like the fairytale story was not going to happen – or was certainly not going to be allowed to happen. I know that, to many observers, it seemed that the other drivers had decided among themselves that the small guy was not going to win the championship.
I was an underdog who had put together a really good season, but I was not what they wanted to be declared as a champion. I felt I had earned my position, but a few drivers decided that it was not what they wanted (maybe for the credibility and prestige of the series) and a few teams had decided that it was not what they wanted either – and it was just sour grapes. It was not just in Oschersleben that this kind of thing happened either.
I was driven off the road in a few places point-blank that season. Maybe it was just one way of giving a newcomer a warm welcome to a series…However, Dirk gained eight points on me in that second Oschersleben race, leaving him with one hand on the championship, 12 points ahead going into Dubai.
It was all rather difficult for me to understand then. It was, I suppose, just a part-manifestation of the politics that go with a big manufacturer series like that when there is a lot at stake and there are a lot of big name drivers with their reputations on the line. It is not personal at all and I have never once lost my faith in the integrity or the honesty of any competitor, but I do think that it does show there is more to motor racing than often meets the eye.
For example, after I won the title at the end of the season in Dubai, Dr Mario Theissen gave me a present – something that I was delighted to receive. It was a chance to drive the Williams BMW Formula One car. It was something I had always wanted and it proved to me that for all the tension between the racing teams, the BMW people were very appreciative of my efforts and supportive of my career.
That was when I first met Sam Michael and the other Williams guys and they were really nice. I could tell that they had watched my season, but they knew it was just a test for a Touring Car driver, nothing serious. What they did not know is that I had been in the gym since I knew I was testing, working out every day. I was very determined about the test and immediately I showed my speed. So that one chance turned into lots more tests the following year and I am very proud of that. That was a great moment for me to choose to go the touring cars route and then still end up with a little job in Formula One. I achieved another of my own dreams that way, thanks to Dr Theissen and BMW.
But I digress; back to that glorious day in Dubai. After everyone had calmed down a little and the celebrations started to wane I went back to my hotel room and said to Jo: ‘Our life is going to change.’ I thought at the time that it would change and I would become a big name, a big personality that was well-respected in British sport.
But that just did not happen immediately. It was a bit of a surprise to me because my championship win was such a big story in motor racing and throughout most of Europe, if not the world. It showed me how conservative some sections of our media can be, but since then I have learned to understand it better. But it is still a bit of a shock. I was the first British European Champion since Tom Walkinshaw, 19 years earlier, so I had done something pretty special and I had also won in adversity. I had showed my determination. I remember reading all the e-mails afterwards, some really famous people were writing to me…Derek Warwick, Walkinshaw, all really nice people and well-known, too. I thought ‘Wow this is awesome – my life is going to change!’ But it did not, at least not right away.
We all flew back from Dubai together on the Saturday. My sister Fi flew back with us, and my brother in-law Rick and their son, Jacob, were there too. When we landed at home, we walked through the airport in Guernsey and I can remember hearing a load of noise. I honestly had no idea who it was or what it was about. I walked out and all of my friends and more of my family were waiting. My two kids greeted me – and all the Guernsey fraternity turned out to meet me at the airport, as I walked out.
They were clapping as I walked through and I nearly lost it, I nearly broke down in tears. It was amazing for them to turn out. I felt so much emotion. Channel TV were there, everything. I do not think the Bailiff turned out, but he did the following year when I won the world championship. All the local Sports Council people were there, but also old people, people I had never met before, and they had all got behind me and watched the races. It was an amazing feeling. It meant so much.
Amidst all the fanfare, I could not help but reflect on my journey from that Guernsey boy, who nobody thought could win anything, to a man with a little bit of a success, and then to European champion. It had not been easy. That was for sure. It had been bloody difficult. On several occasions, it had looked like it was never going to happen for me. As the applause went up all around me, I thought back to when I first went to England, alone and penniless, but hungry for success. It seemed like an age ago, but then, in that instant, it all seemed worth it in a way that I could never have imagined. After my Silverstone years, I really felt I had achieved something.
‘Well, so what, Priaulx? Oh, you won a few hillclimbs, racing against old farmers, eh? Who the hell do you think you are?’
