Andy Priaulx has praised the “superb” progress achieved by his son Seb Priaulx in the Ginetta Junior Championship so far, after the teenage talent secured his first outright podium finish in the series at Thruxton last weekend.
A breakthrough meeting for Seb saw him secure a pair of Rookie Cup victories to extend his run to five consecutive class podiums, with the second of those coming as the 15 year old put himself right in the fight for the overall race win on his way to third overall.
“Seb has done really well so far this season. Just because his name is a Priaulx, it doesn’t mean he’s had it all handed on a plate to him,” said the three-time FIA World Touring Car champion.
“He’s done very little racing. We didn’t do much karting as we didn’t have the money, but we said we’d have one year of cars properly to see how he does. He did five test days and immediately the team said to me that he was really on the pace, one of the best they had seen.
“Honestly, what he’s done in the first three meetings is superb, he’s not been out the overall top six in qualifying and has raced for solid podium finishes overall and in class. I’m very proud.”
After Seb watched on twelve months ago as Andy battled it out around Thruxton in the BTCC, it was roles reversed this time out, with Priaulx Snr becoming the nervous father watching on as his son battled it out wheel-to-wheel around the fastest circuit in the UK.
Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
“I know what he’s seeing and I know what he’s got to do to keep it on track and hold it in position really close, having to push a little bit more when you’re off line and compromised,” he commented.
“He showed a lot of determination today, he drove two solid, defensive races, he didn’t make a single mistake and I even thought to myself that I didn’t think I could have held them off for so long.”
For the Priaulx family, Seb’s success capped off a special weekend that saw both father and son grace the podium – Andy having finished second in class in the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday.
Andy says a swift journey from Belgium to Hampshire was more than worth it to see Seb on the podium, and he’s confident they’ll have more success to celebrate as the season progresses.
“It’s a surreal feeling for us both to be on the podium. It was worth coming over today to see that. When he told me yesterday that he was sixth on the grid, a tenth off pole, and that he’d done it without a tow, I knew that he was really fast around here,” he added.
“For me, he’s got a lot of natural speed, which makes my job a lot easier. Racecraft is something you can teach quite easily and in the races so far he’s already learnt so, so much. We’ll keep chipping away and see what he can do.”
Read Seb’s views on his Thruxton weekend by clicking here.
