Priaulx back on the streets
ANDY PRIAULX is a great fan of street circuits so cannot wait for the next round of the FIA World Touring Car Cup in Portugal, which will be held at Vila Real in the north of the country this weekend.
‘This will be my first visit to this track, although I have raced on the other Portuguese street circuit of Oporto, which is about a hundred kilometres west on the coast. I really enjoyed that track and had a win there back in 2007,’ said Priaulx.
‘I have always loved racing on streets and this circuit looks like it will be really challenging and fast.
‘Let’s hope our Lynk & Co 03 TCR goes well there and we can turn round our recent luck.’
The circuit has a great history, which goes back to 1931 when it was a hilly 7.150km course. These days it is still hilly, but shorter at 4.785km.
Last year the WTCR raced there for the first time, after the FIA World Touring Car Championship was there for the three previous years.
Priaulx’s Cyan Racing team-mates, Yvan Muller and Thed Bjork, both celebrated a win last year so he is optimistic about their chances.
The timetable for the WTCR Race of Portugal starts on Friday (5 July) with free practice 1 from 5-5.45pm.
Free practice 2 is on Saturday from 9-9.30am, followed by qualifying for race one from 11-11.40am, with the 11-lap race starting at 3.15pm.
On Sunday qualifying is from 10-10.30am (Q1), 10.35-10.50am (Q2) with the first car going at 11am for Q3.
The first 11-lap race on Sunday is at 3.30pm.
The third and final race of the weekend is run over 13 laps and starts at 5pm.
All these times are local, which is the same as BST.