Andy Priaulx autobiography

[ATF]

I'm not sure everyone will be aware of this, seemed to slip under the radar. Good to see a motorsport autobiography that's not just F1-related!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andy-Priaulx-Autobiography-Three-time-Champion/dp/000728117X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217342805&sr=1-1

[BTCC2]

He only gives the BTCC about 2 sentences mention.

[Eurotech]

Well, i think the WTCC was more important part of his career.

[wedge]

Isn't it a bit early for an autobiography?

A sign perhaps that he's eagerly bound for ALMS next year driving the Rahal-Letterman M3s when Brits will start forgetting about him?

[AndyRAC]

He only gives the BTCC about 2 sentences mention.

Well, why would he? He's a 3x World Champion, and no matter how exciting and big the BTCC is, it is just a domestic championship.

[VXRDartford]

Isn't it a bit early for an autobiography?

A sign perhaps that he's eagerly bound for ALMS next year driving the Rahal-Letterman M3s when Brits will start forgetting about him?

Not many Brits (unless they are motorracing followers) know who he is anyway (a point he stresses in the book!!) which is unfortunate as he is one of the best touring car drivers.

Good book tho

[Eurotech]

I blame it on the poor TV coverage the WTCC gets over here. it was only this year when ITV decided to show it and he doesn't look likely to win this year.

[Iain]

Quite surprising really, as the BBC and ITV really are into this tabloid style coverage of people in sport nowadays purely because they're British.

[SEATFreak]

I think all this talk of the coverage of the WTCC in the UK's main networks like ITV, Channel Four and Five is for the networks and the media partners of the WTCC.
I don't think the fact it (WTCC) recieves little media coverage will affect the sales figures for Andy's autobiography massively. I think aswell as motorsport fans and fans of Andy, it looks to me like biographies have another readership the publishers and the stockists really rely on in their own way - fans of biographies.

I was no fan of Jordan F1 or Eddie Jordan but I found his biography predominantly thanks to my interest in reading biographical books. Novels that would appeal to me as a man (though some would dispute by gender! :p : ) are too complex for me in terms of what is important for me to absorb. Biographies are better for me because your able to concentrate on one person and his/her life before, during and after their success.

So, despite the fact I am not a fan of Andy, any team he has ever raced with or any of the championships he has raced in (except for the WTCC) I fully intend to get his book for Christmas.

[wedge]

I think aswell as motorsport fans and fans of Andy, it looks to me like biographies have another readership the publishers and the stockists really rely on in their own way - fans of biographies.

I was no fan of Jordan F1 or Eddie Jordan but I found his biography predominantly thanks to my interest in reading biographical books. Novels that would appeal to me as a man (though some would dispute by gender! :p : ) are too complex for me in terms of what is important for me to absorb. Biographies are better for me because your able to concentrate on one person and his/her life before, during and after their success.

So, despite the fact I am not a fan of Andy, any team he has ever raced with or any of the championships he has raced in (except for the WTCC) I fully intend to get his book for Christmas.

Very much agree. And you've reminded me of adding Eddie Jordan and Alex Zanardi on my reading list!

Biographies are great for the fans because stuff that stays behind closed doors sometimes comes out in biographies.

I'm reading James Allen book on Schumacher ATM. People forget what a great journalist he is, respect within the F1 paddock, gets the likes of Ross Brawn to open up.

Motorsport mag is good but rarely mentions touring cars and tends to focus on specific moments in time.

[wedge]

He only gives the BTCC about 2 sentences mention.

That's shocking.

BTCC gave him a life line in touring cars. Quite a few up and comers around that time end up doing GTs/endurance and fade into obscurity.

[SEATFreak]

Very much agree. And you've reminded me of adding Eddie Jordan and Alex Zanardi on my reading list!

I don't have Zanardi's (though I would love to know more about his now infamous or famous accident in IndyCar I think it was), but I do have Eddie Jordan's and I felt for him when he talked a bit about Schumey leaving for Bennetton. I felt "Schumey is probably the greatest driver Jordan never had".


Biographies are great for the fans because stuff that stays behind closed doors sometimes comes out in biographies.

Your right. That is another plus with a biography that fans of that type of book. The star isn't afraid to tell all about stuff we often debated about at the time but in truth probably knew little off in terms of the facts that lay behind closed doors.

And I am sure it is insightfulness of AP's book that will ultimately lead to whatever sales it amasses.


I'm reading James Allen book on Schumacher ATM.

Is it subtitled "Driving to Extreme"? I have it in the paperback form and I finished reading it ages ago. I found the infamous incident with Jaques Villneuve in Jerez in 1997 quite interesting.

[LiamM]

He only gives the BTCC about 2 sentences mention.

Pages 160-166~167 deal with his breif time in the BTCC. It was a few years in a bigger picture and a springboard to greater sucess, he should mention it (like he has) but its not part of the bigger picture

[VXRDartford]

Very much agree. And you've reminded me of adding Eddie Jordan and Alex Zanardi on my reading list!

.

I would stongly recommend Zanardi's book.

[SEATFreak]

I would imagine Zanardi's is a better read than Eddie Jordan's. I thought Eddie's was good but I would imagine Zanardi's to be a tad better.

[ATF]

Zanardi's is a good book, probably because he's nearing the end of his career and he's got a lot to say. Don't think it mentions WTCC much but some of the Indy stuff is good.

I've bought Andys but not got round to reading it yet - maybe it is a bit early, but should be quite an interesting read. It's not as bad as Lewis Hamilton - a 23 year old having an autobiography!! - blatantly just cashing in when a couple of years ago, joe public had never even heard of him!

[MrJan]

I take it that if the BTCC barely warrants a mention that there isn't a lot about when he was doing the British Hillclimb Championship?