James Nash Valencia qualifying report

Nash disappointed with Eighth row start

James Nash, Ford Focus S2000 TC, Team Aon ad Alexey Dudukalo, SEAT Leon WTCC, Lukoil Racing Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

Reigning British Touring Car Independent Driver Champion James Nash will start tomorrow’s third and fourth rounds of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at Valencia in Spain from the eighth row of the grid in his Team Aon Ford Focus.

The qualifying session proved to be a very competitive one with the top 18 cars split by just 1.5s. Milton Keynes-based Nash had gone into the meeting harbouring hope of a top ten grid and missed out on his target by only 0.4s.

James Nash: “For sure, P16 isn’t where I wanted to be for tomorrow’s races but looking at just how close the times are throughout the field it is clear evidence that we’re making real progress with the Ford Focus which is brand new to the series this season.”

”We’ve also got to bear in mind that we’re carrying a 30kg weight handicap until we can put some redesigned parts on the car, hopefully in time for the next meeting in two weeks time. That extra weight will have made a difference to our performance. Without it I’m certain that I’d be starting the races inside the top ten.”

“I’ll be right in the mix of the midfield in both race starts tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll have a bit more luck than we had at Monza for the first round when I got pushed into somebody else’s accident at the first corner. If we can stay clean then I’m confident that l can pick up a few places and nail a top ten finish and some Championship points.”