Editing Andy Priaulx (section)

==Racing career==
Born in [[Guernsey]], Priaulx has competed in many types of motorsport, beginning in [[karting]] at the minimum age of eight. After a brief flirtation with [[powerboat]] racing, he started [[hillclimbing]] while still a teenager, sharing a car with his father Graham. It was quickly apparent that he had great natural ability, and few people were surprised when he took the [[British Hillclimb Championship]] title in 1995.

After this, he made the switch to circuit racing, where after a relatively low-key couple of years in [[British Formula Renault Championship|Formula Renault UK Championship]] and [[British Formula 3 Championship|British Formula 3]] he eventually demonstrated his skills were transferable by switching to the [[Renault Spider]] championship in 1998, completely dominating it in 1999. His career stalled somewhat when he returned to British Formula 3 in 2000–01. He had some success at this level, but despite finishing sixth in the championship in 2001 was unable to progress further up the single-seater ladder.

===Touring cars===
[[File:Andy Priaulx 2007 Curitiba qualify.jpg|thumb|left|Priaulx in 2007.]]
In 2001 Priaulx had a pair of [[British Touring Car Championship]] (BTCC) guest drives for the Egg Vauxhall team, standing in for the suspended [[Phil Bennett (racing driver)|Phil Bennett]]. He stunned the regulars by taking pole position on his debut at [[Oulton Park]], demonstrating that his future appeared to lie in that direction.

The following year he was signed by the works [[Arena Motorsport|Honda]] BTCC team for their [[2002 British Touring Car Championship season|2002]] campaign. He won one race and finished on the podium in two others, and the following season was signed by Bart Mampaey's [[BMW]] UK team for their [[European Touring Car Championship]] (ETCC) effort. He was in contention for the title until late in the year, eventually finishing third. Priaulx also occasionally guested in Australian [[V8 Supercar]] racing, competing at the [[Bathurst 1000]]km in 2002 with [[Yvan Muller]] in a Kmart Racing Commodore and 2003 with [[Cameron McLean]] again in a Kmart Commodore, and also the Sandown 500&nbsp;km in 2003.

2004 saw Priaulx win a major circuit racing championship, as he became ETCC champion after a season-long battle with [[Dirk Müller (racing driver)|Dirk Müller]]. Both men obtained the same number of points, but Priaulx had won five races as against Müller's three, and this was sufficient to hand the Priaulx the title.

Priaulx repeated his 2004 success in 2005, 2006 and 2007, clinching the [[World Touring Car Championship]] (WTCC, essentially the same series, with two races outside Europe in 2005 and three in 2006) at the final round in [[Guia Race|Macau]]. In 2005, he won the crown with two second-place finishes in the final round when his nearest rivals, Dirk Müller and [[Fabrizio Giovanardi]] both failed to score. The following year, a win in the opening race of the final meeting left him needing to finish fifth in the final event to beat [[Jörg Müller]] by a single point, which he achieved.

[[File:Andy Priaulx and Yvan Muller 2007 Curitiba.jpg|thumb|left|Priaulx driving a [[BMW E90|BMW 320si]] WTCC car.]]
Heading into the final meeting of the [[2007 World Touring Car Championship season|2007 WTCC season]] at [[Macau]], Priaulx was joint leader of the championship alongside former BTCC champion [[Yvan Muller]]. He came eighth in the first race and won from pole position in the second race to claim his and BMW's third WTCC championship in a row.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7100420.stm Priaulx wins third Touring title] BBC Sport&nbsp;– 18 November 2007</ref>

He was appointed [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=58729 |date=14 June 2008 |page=21 |supp=y}}</ref>[[File:Andy Priaulx 2010 WTCC Race of Japan (Free Practice 1).jpg|thumb|left|Priaulx during the first free practice session of the [[2010 FIA WTCC Race of Japan]].]]Priaulx again raced in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW Team UK in 2009, finishing fourth in the standings. As well as the WTCC, he competed in selected rounds of the [[American Le Mans Series]] for BMW and a number of races in the Australian [[V8 Supercars]] championship, driving a [[Walkinshaw Racing]] [[Holden]] with [[David Reynolds (racing driver)|David Reynolds]] at the [[Phillip Island 500K|Phillip Island]] and [[Bathurst 1000|Bathurst]] endurance races.

In 2010, Priaulx continued to race in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW and competed in several races for BMW in the [[Le Mans Series]], [[2010 Armor All Gold Coast 600]] in V8 Supercars with [[Craig Lowndes]], [[2010 Race of Champions|Race of Champions]], as well as the [[24 Hours of Le Mans|Le Mans 24 Hours]].[[File:BMW M3 DTM (E92) of Team RMG (10074873525).jpg|thumbnail|right|Priaulx competing in the [[2013 DTM season]].]]On 5 December 2010, BMW announced that it would not be continuing its factory effort in the World Touring Car Championship from [[2011 World Touring Car Championship season|2011]] onwards.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88576|title=BMW pulls works team out of WTCC|work=autosport.com|publisher=[[Haymarket Group|Haymarket Publications]]|date=5 December 2010|access-date=8 December 2010|first=Matt|last=Beer}}</ref> It was announced on 25 January 2011, that Priaulx contest the [[2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup|Intercontinental Le Mans Cup]] for BMW, as well as undertaking testing duties for BMW with cars from other racing categories.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89061|title=Full BMW ILMC campaign for Priaulx|work=autosport.com|publisher=[[Haymarket Group|Haymarket Publications]]|date=24 January 2011|access-date=25 January 2011|first=Steven|last=English}}</ref>[[File:BTCC Opening Round - Brands Hatch - -111 Andy Priaulx - IHG BMW 125i M Sport (17016624059).jpg|thumb|Priaulx driving for [[West Surrey Racing|BMW]] at [[Brands Hatch]] during the [[2015 British Touring Car Championship]] season.]]
Priaulx spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons racing for BMW in the [[Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters]], scoring his best result in the final round of the [[2013 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season|2013 season]] at the [[Hockenheimring]], where he finished in sixth after starting in third.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111300 |title=Andy Priaulx set to leave DTM to switch to GT racing in 2014 |last1=O'Leary |first1=Jamie|date=14 November 2013 |website=[[autosport.com]] |access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> He switched to racing in the [[United SportsCar Championship]] in the United States for 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/25262260 |title=Guernsey: Andy Priaulx to race for BMW in America |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=6 December 2013 |website=[[bbc.co.uk]] |access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> In January 2015 it was announced at [[Autosport International]] that Priaulx would return to the British Touring Car Championship for 2015 with [[West Surrey Racing]], campaigning a [[BMW 1 Series (F20)|BMW 125i M Sport]], combining his BTCC programme with racing works BMWs in the [[European Le Mans Series]] and the [[North American Endurance Cup]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117309 |title=Andy Priaulx joins WSR for British Touring Car Championship return |last1=Mitchell |first1=Scott|date=8 January 2015 |website=[[autosport.com]] |access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

On 10 December 2018, it was announced that Priaulx will join Lynk & Co Cyan Racing for the [[2019 World Touring Car Cup]] season, partnering former WTCC champions [[Yvan Muller]], [[Thed Björk]] and Yvan's nephew [[Yann Ehrlacher]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.touringcartimes.com/2018/12/10/andy-priaulx-joins-lynk-co-cyan-racing-programme/|title=Andy Priaulx joins Lynk & Co Cyan Racing programme|publisher=Touringcartimes.com|date=10 December 2018|access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref> On 17 November 2019, Priaulx secured his maiden win in the FIA World Touring Car Cup in Macau.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2019-11-17/andy-priaulx-secures-maiden-world-touring-car-cup-win-in-macau/|date=17 November 2019|title=Andy Priaulx secures maiden World Touring Car Cup win in Macau|website=[[ITV.com]]}}</ref>

===Ford WEC===
[[File:Chip Ganassi Ford GT Priaulx Silverstone 2018.jpg|thumb|Priaulx driving in the [[2018 6 Hours of Silverstone]].|left]]
On 5 December 2015, it was announced that Priaulx had parted ways with BMW after a 13-year stint with the German manufacturer to join [[Chip Ganassi Racing|Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK]] for their upcoming debut in the [[2016 FIA World Endurance Championship]] season.<ref>{{cite web|title=Andy Priaulx explains decision to leave BMW for Ford WEC deal|url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122399|website=Autosport.com|date=6 January 2016 }}</ref> He was officially unveiled as a Ford driver on 5 January 2016 alongside teammates [[Marino Franchitti]], [[Stefan Mücke]], and [[Olivier Pla]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ford GT Drivers Revealed for World Endurance Battle {{!}} FIA World Endurance Championship|url=http://www.fiawec.com/en/news/ford-gt-drivers-revealed-for-world-endurance-battle_3679.html|website=www.fiawec.com|access-date=9 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513223846/http://www.fiawec.com/en/news/ford-gt-drivers-revealed-for-world-endurance-battle_3679.html|archive-date=13 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>