Profile view of Marc Priestley, current mechanic and co-presenter for the Wheeler Dealers TV Show, at the 2023 Silverstone Festival
Priestley was educated at Dartford Grammar School. After attending West Kent College and studying Motor Vehicle Technology, Priestley worked as an apprentice race mechanic for a series of small motor sport teams in London, working with Caterham Seven cars. He eventually became the lead mechanic on his team's GT3 sports car, after which he moved into single-seater racing with Lanan Racing's Formula Ford project. Following a stint with the Speedsport team in British Formula 3, Priestley was hired as chief mechanic at Orbit Motorsport in Formula 3000. In 1999, Priestley was hired by McLaren as a test team mechanic and quickly rose through the ranks. His first race weekend with McLaren was at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, where he was responsible for changing the car's front wing. During his years at McLaren, he worked as the Number Two mechanic for Kimi Räikkönen before becoming the Number One mechanic for the team's T-car. In 2008, he worked as a liaison between both sides of the McLaren garage in the aftermath of a tense 2007 season between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. He was part of the team when they won the World Drivers' Championship with Hamilton at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. After the team's successful season, Priestley opted to work from the team's Woking base in 2009 instead of travelling to each race. It was during this time that he began to focus on his online blog. He left the team at the end of the season to pursue a media career. Priestley was hired to replace Ant Anstead for the 17th season of the British TV show Wheeler Dealers in 2021.[
Size: 3355px × 3636px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -hoast, 2023, bicester, car., circuit, close-, dealers, dream, elvis, f1, festival, formula, heritage, marc, mclaren, mechanic, presenter, priestley, silverstone, towcester, tv, wheeler
