Andy Priaulx is not holding back on his ambition to win the World Endurance Championship GTE title in 2017.
The Ford factory driver, who finished fifth in the standings last year with team-mate Harry Tincknell, is hoping to continue the pair's end of season form to mount a challenge on the ultra-competitive field.
Ford made its WEC debut last season and achieved its primary aim of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but over the course of the season its two full-season cars were unsuccessful in their championship bid, losing out to Aston Martin and Ferrari in both the drivers' and teams' stakes.
Priaulx and Tincknell found a rhythm towards the end of the year and won at Fuji and Shanghai, but troublesome runs for the #67 car at the Nürburgring and the double-points round at Le Mans curtailed their overall effort.
Despite coming up 38.5 points short, Priaulx is confident that he and Tincknell have the foundations for a title assault having established a competitive rhythm in the closing stages of 2016.
"We've got a good chance to be right in the mix this year," Priaulx tells MotorsportWeek.com, "and we need a strong team in order to do that."
"Harry and I were riding on the crest of a wave towards the end of last season and we need to use that momentum to start this year well."
"Last season was great – I feel we could have won it – but we just came up short."
Priaulx is hungry for a world title in sportscars.
The upcoming season marks his tenth since winning a third World Touring Car Championship crown in 2007 with the BMW factory team. That remains his most recent series triumph, although he has come close since.
Priaulx remained at BMW during the manufacturer's foray into sportscars in 2009, and was instrumental in its American Le Mans Series campaign that also included a debut appearance at Le Mans. The team finished second in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and won its class at the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
During that time Priaulx also recevied a tempting offer from the Peugeot LMP1 programme, but his close ties with BMW prevented a switch from materialising.
Continuing with BMW, he came close to winning the European Le Mans Series title in 2015 – his final year with the marque – driving for customer outfit Marc VDS.
Inevitably, the championship drought and the recent near-misses have given Priaulx the impetus to push harder than ever before in 2017, with the FIA's recent granting of world championship status to the GTE category marking a clear end-of-year objective.
"I really want to win the world title this year," he says. "There's a lot riding on it for me personally."
"It's a personal ambition for me to be a world champion in more than one category, and I think this year offers the best opportunity to achieve that."
"Winning world titles in both touring cars and endurance racing would make me very happy – it's part of a clear aim to exceed last year's achievements."
"During my time at BMW, I was fortunate that they did turn their touring car programme into a sportscar programme, contesting the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and ALMS. It enabled me to do things I hadn't done before. We led 23 out of the 24 hours at Le Mans – unfortunately we dropepd to third with a mechanical issue – but I have been very lucky to have had the career I've had so far."
"Where we are now, fighting for Le Mans and potentially trying to win that race for Ford, is amazing. I never took anything for granted, and every now and again I pinch myself looking back on it."
Joining Priaulx and Tincknell for the opening three rounds of the WEC is Brazilian hotshot Pipo Derani, who comes into GT racing following a successful introduction to prototypes that saw him win both the Daytona and Sebring enduros in 2016.
Derani will complement the #67 Ford GT lineup at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, plus the two six-hour events at Silverstone and Spa.
"We need that [Derani in the team] for our title challenge," says Priaulx.
"We know he's super quick and fully capable of the job: it was music to my ears when he was confirmed in our car because we want to win the world title and he should be a great asset."
Ford gave its WEC drivers, minus Derani, a head-start for the WEC campaign by sending them to Florida for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
Priaulx, Tincknell and guest Tony Kanaan finished second best of the four-car Ford GT contingent, and fifth in class after a nose-to-tail tussle for the entire 24 hours.
Logistical reasons meant the #67 crew had to skip the Twelve Hours of Sebring last weekend, but the Daytona curtain raiser offered the manufacturer a valuable opportunity to run the car ahead of its WEC rivals.
"We did really well at Daytona, only finishing five seconds off the winning Ford and fifth in GTLM," reflects Priaulx.
"We were happy that our late-season WEC form could translate to a good result over in IMSA."
"Unfortunately we couldn't do Sebring: the team needed one car back at the factory and it was our car this time. The guys have been extremely busy stripping everything down and checking everything over so we can be ready for the new season."
"Of course, they need to focus on the WEC so it didn't work out for us personally on the #67 car, but there's nothing bad about that because we need to take these steps if we're going to be competitive from the start."
"I think we have everything in place to have a big year in WEC and to build on the momentum from 2016."
Priaulx, Tincknell and Derani launch Ford's sophomore year in the World Endurance Championship with the official test days at Monza on April 1-2.
The trio will travel to Silverstone along with Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke and Billy Johnson in the sister Ford for the opening six-hour race on April 16.
Discussion about this post