Sports / Motor Racing |
Briton Priaulx retains world touring car title(Reuters)Updated: 2006-11-20 09:20 Briton Andy Priaulx retained his World Touring Car (WTCC) title in the final round of the championship in Macau on Sunday. The BMW driver won the first race and came fifth in the second around the tortuous street circuit to emerge triumphant from a group of nine drivers who went into the final round with a chance of winning the title. Priaulx beat Germany's Joerg Mueller by a point in the final standings. Brazilian Augusto Farfus was third. It was the Guernsey driver's third title in a row, after winning the European championship in 2004 before it became a world series in 2005. "A race is never easy but the first one went according to plan," said Priaulx. "I was on pole, got a good start and led from start to finish." Race two was more of a struggle, with Priaulx starting eighth with a 45 kg load of ballast. "I reckon this was one of my best and at the same time hardest races ever," he said. "We had some carnage on the first lap and a long safety car period. I was being pushed from behind by one driver and had a slower one in front." "Winning consecutive titles is very, very hard and the pressure on this one was massive," he said. BMW also retained their manufacturers' title. British F3 champion Mike Conway won the Macau Grand Prix, a race that has been won in the past by some of Formula One's biggest names, after starting seventh.
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