BMW man battles through to secure third straight WTCC title at Macau
For the third season in a row, Andy Priaulx has secured the World Touring Car Championship title on the streets of Macau after another dramatic conclusion to the WTCC season.
Having qualified down in twelfth place after a difficult qualifying session, the BMWTeam UK driver was left with an uphill struggle in the opening race with Yvan Muller - level on points going into the weekend - starting the first race from pole position.
With the Frenchman leading the way in race one and Priaulx unable to break into the top eight, the title appeared to be going the way of the SEAT man until a mechanical problem on the penultimate lap saw him forced to retire, although Priaulx was still outside the points in tenth place. However, contact between Gabriele Tarquini and Augusto Farfus on the final lap saw Farfus forced out and with Duncan Huisman allowing Priaulx to overtake him, the Guernseyman secured a valuable championship point and an even more important pole position for race two.
With Muller unable to start race two, the title fight became a two-way battle between Priaulx and fellow Brit James Thompson, although Thompson had to win and hope Priaulx failed to score to deny the BMW man a fourth straight title - with Priaulx having also taken the final ETCC crown.
As it was, Priaulx led away from the line and was able to edge away from Thompson and then hold off the later challenge of Nicola Larini to secure a win that sees him maintain his stranglehold on the WTCC crown
