Triple 8 Silverstone qualifying report

Silverstone, 15th October The Triple Eight Race Engineering with Collins Contractors turbo Vauxhalls driven by James Nash and Ollie Jackson will start from 4th and from 19th on the grid for tomorrows 28th round of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone, near Towcester, Northamptonshire

James Nash, Triple 8

Photo by: Pat Cranham

Nash, currently 5th in the overall title race and leading the Independent standings battled illness to qualifying on the second row and will start tomorrow’s first race of three immediately behind his only rival for the independent’s title, Mat Jackson.

(Ollie) Jackson meanwhile was unfortunate to qualify on the tenth row after his session was ended early by alternator failure. In the morning’s free practice session Jackson driving a touring car for only the second time in completion had been 10th fastest and looking good for the afternoon qualifying session.

James Nash #14: “ I’m really happy with P4. After Free Practice 2 we didn’t expect to get inside the top 8. We came into the weekend wanting the top 6 so 4th is very good.” “For the race I’ll be aiming to keep Mat Jackson in sight obviously, but really we’ll go into the race like we’ve always done, aiming to do the best we can and see what happens.” “I’m not feeling too great at the moment but adrenaline will sort that one out. It isn’t a concern and I’m really looking forward to the race.”

Ollie Jackson #48: “ I’m very disappointed to be 19th. It was a tough session and I don’t think l deserve to be 19th. Unfortunately the alternator belt snapped which meant that l lost a lot of power in the final run. Without that I think that I probably would have been around 10th or 11th or something like that.”

“Tenth this morning had been a good result so we know we’ve got the pace. I’ve been working on the starts which hampered me on my debut, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of luck tomorrow and a better day.”

Ian Harrison. Chairman Triple Eight “ James qualifying 4th here is a very good result. We came here hoping to qualify in the top 6 and we’ve exceeded that. Ollie drove well again. Consistent top 10 times this morning proved he’s got the pace and it is just unfortunate that a simple failure cost him when it mattered.”