James Nash (racing driver)

Last updated

James Nash
James nash silverstone2012.JPG
Nash in 2012.
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1985-12-16) 16 December 1985 (age 38)
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Blancpain Endurance Series career
Debut season 2014
Current team Belgian Audi Club Team WRT
Car number2
Starts0
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Previous series
2012–2013
2009–2011
2011
2008
2006–2007
World Touring Car Championship
British Touring Car Championship
British GT Championship
SEAT León Eurocup
British Formula Ford
Championship titles
2013
2011
WTCC Independents' Trophy
BTCC Independents' Trophy
Awards
2006BRDC Rising Star
BTCC record
Teams RML, 888
Drivers'
championships
0
Wins1
Podium finishes11
Poles0
Fastest laps2
Debut season2009
First win2011
Best championship position5th (2011)
Final season (2011) position5th (191 points)

James Elliott Martyn Nash (born 16 December 1985, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire) is a British auto racing driver. On 16 October 2011, at the final round of the 2011 BTCC season, he clinched the independents' championship. In 2014, he is competing in the Blancpain Endurance Series for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.

Contents

Racing career

Early years

Nash raced in karting until 2005 when he started racing in Formula Ford cars. He took one win, two poles, two fastest laps, one second and one third out of the six races in his first season. He was nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 2006. In 2007, he finished runner-up in the British Formula Ford Championship, his second year in the national series. Nash tested with British Formula 3 team Fluid Motorsport and then tested a Spanish Formula 3 Championship car at Silverstone with Team West-Tec.[ citation needed ]

He decided to turn his back on single seater racing and moved into touring cars, racing in the SEAT León Eurocup in 2008, a support series for the World Touring Car Championship with WTCC team SUNRED Engineering. He finished joint 4th in the championship, tied on 36 points with Massimiliano Pedalà.[ citation needed ]

British Touring Car Championship

Nash competing in the 2009 British Touring Car Championship. James Nash Oulton Park 2009 (1).JPG
Nash competing in the 2009 British Touring Car Championship.

RML (2009)

He made the step up to the British Touring Car Championship in 2009 after being linked with Tempus Sport he completed a deal to race a third Chevrolet Lacetti for RML, making his debut in the fourth meeting of the season at Oulton Park. [1]

Nash was running in second place in his ninth BTCC race at Snetterton when he made contact with Airwaves BMW driver Rob Collard, who went spinning off the track before rejoining in a heavy collision with the BMW of Stephen Jelley. Nash went on to win the race but was excluded for his part in the incident.

Triple 8 Race Engineering (2010–2011)

Nash competing in the 2010 British Touring Car Championship. James Nash BTCC Oulton Park 2010.jpg
Nash competing in the 2010 British Touring Car Championship.

Nash was without a team for the first meeting of the 2010 season, but was signed by Triple 8 Race Engineering to replace Fabrizio Giovanardi from round two onwards. [2] At Snetterton, he finished tenth in the second race, before the reverse-grid system handed him pole for the final race of the day, [3] but he spun out of the lead on lap two and Gordon Shedden went on to take the win. [4]

He returned to Triple 8 for a full campaign in 2011, [5] with new teammate Tony Gilham in a second Vauxhall Vectra. He took his first career win in the reversed grid race at Rockingham, he started from fifth but led front row starters Rob Austin and Rob Collard home to the finish line. [6]

He went to the final round at Silverstone in mathematical contention to win both the overall drivers' championship and the independent drivers' championship, [7] a podium finish and two non-scores could not get him the overall championship but the independent victory in race one secured him the independents' trophy with a 32-point advantage over rival Mat Jackson. [8] He also helped Triple 8 to secure the Independent Teams' Trophy.

World Touring Car Championship

Team Aon (2012)

Nash driving for Team Aon at the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan. James Nash 2012 WTCC Race of Japan (Practice 1).jpg
Nash driving for Team Aon at the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.

After claiming the BTCC Independents Drivers Championship in 2011, it was announced in February 2012 that Nash would move to the World Touring Car Championship to partner Tom Chilton at Team Aon. [9]

He started on pole position for the reversed grid second race at Marrakech and held off Franz Engstler in the early laps before eventually being overcome by Yvan Muller. He finished the race in sixth place, scoring his first WTCC points. He qualified fourth for the next round at the Slovakiaring but was given a ten-place grid drop for failing the ride height check. [10]

Near the end of the Race of Hungary race two, he pulled off the track two laps from the end with a car problem but was classified 19th and last. He scored a point once again in race one at the Race of Austria and then repeated the feat in race two, coming through the field when many other cars were suffering punctures as a result of aggressive cambers. Nash retired from both races in Portugal due to a collision in the first race and a set up error in race two. An engine change for both Fords at the Race of Japan sent Nash to the back of the grid for the first race. [11] Engine problems in China meant he failed to finish either race, with his retirement in the second race being at the end of the warm up lap. Nash finished the championship in 20th place, two places above his teammate despite having not scored points since Austria.

Bamboo Engineering (2013)

Nash competing in the 2013 World Touring Car Championship. James Nash 2013 WTCC Race of Japan (Practice 2).jpg
Nash competing in the 2013 World Touring Car Championship.

In December 2012, Bamboo Engineering announced that Nash would drive for them in 2013, competing in a latest specification Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T. [12] He qualified fifth for the first race of the season and finished seventh in both races. He was second in the independents' class in both races which put him at the top of the Yokohama Independents' Trophy going to Morocco. [13] He finished on the overall podium in the WTCC for the first time at the Race of Morocco, coming home third in race one. [14] He then finished fourth in race two having started ninth. He finished outside the points for the first time in 2013 in race two of the Race of Slovakia having run off the road and through the gravel traps on the first lap. He recovered to finish seventeenth. [15] At the Race of Austria after qualifying, Nash was investigated along with thirteen other drivers but no further action was taken. [16] Twelve drivers were issued with grid penalties for the first race, moving Nash up from tenth on second on the race one grid while he would start from pole position for race two. [17] Having finished second in the first race, he claimed his first overall WTCC victory in race two. [18]

Blancpain Endurance Series

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (2014–)

In 2014, he will compete in the Blancpain Endurance Series for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, [19] in car number 2, alongside teammates Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler. [20]

Other activities

Nash raced in the Dubai 24 Hour race in 2011, starting on pole position and setting fastest lap. That year he also co-drove a Lotus Evora in the British GT Championship for a single race at Donington Park alongside Phil Glew. [21] They finished as winners in the GT4 class.

Media career

In 2011 Nash furthered his amateur media career by working with various amateur production companies in a Stunt Driving and Driver Consultancy role appearing in Charlie Simpson's hit single 'Cemetery' and working alongside Dot Rotten in his 2011 release 'Keep it on a low'.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races)

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930PosPts
2009 RML Chevrolet Lacetti BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
OUL
1

11
OUL
2

Ret
OUL
3

17
CRO
1

13
CRO
2

15
CRO
3

Ret
SNE
1

NC
SNE
2

8
SNE
3

DSQ
KNO
1
KNO
2
KNO
3
SIL
1

3
SIL
2

Ret
SIL
3

8
ROC
1

8
ROC
2

7
ROC
3

Ret
BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
15th24
2010 Uniq Racing with Triple Eight Vauxhall Vectra THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
ROC
1

Ret
ROC
2

10
ROC
3

8
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

10
BRH
3

7
OUL
1

9
OUL
2

7
OUL
3

3
CRO
1

6
CRO
2

13
CRO
3

11
SNE
1

5
SNE
2

10
SNE
3

Ret*
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

11
SIL
3

8
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

11
KNO
3

11
DON
1

17
DON
2

10
DON
3

10
BRH
1

8
BRH
2

9
BRH
3

7
12th52
2011 888 Racing with Collins Contractors Vauxhall Vectra BRH
1

2
BRH
2

4
BRH
3

6
DON
1

3*
DON
2

2
DON
3

3
THR
1

8
THR
2

6
THR
3

4
OUL
1

4
OUL
2

2
OUL
3

13
CRO
1

8
CRO
2

11
CRO
3

5
SNE
1

5
SNE
2

2
SNE
3

6
KNO
1

6
KNO
2

8
KNO
3

15
ROC
1

9
ROC
2

6
ROC
3

1*
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

6
BRH
3

3
SIL
1

3
SIL
2

15
SIL
3

17
5th191
2018 BTC Norlin Racing Honda Civic Type R BRH
1

17
BRH
2

14
BRH
3

Ret
DON
1

18
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

12
THR
1

23
THR
2

21
THR
3

23
OUL
1
OUL
2
OUL
3
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
SNE
1
SNE
2
SNE
3
ROC
1
ROC
2
ROC
3
KNO
1
KNO
2
KNO
3
SIL
1
SIL
2
SIL
3
BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
31st6

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)

YearTeamCarClass12345678910PosPts
2011 Lotus Sport UK Lotus Evora GT4 OUL
1
OUL
2
SNE
1
BRH
1
SPA
1
SPA
2
ROC
1
ROC
2
DON
1

13
SIL
1
10th37.5
2015 UltraTek Racing Lotus Evora GT4 GT4 OUL
1
OUL
2
ROC
1

23
SIL
1

21
SPA
1

29
BRH
1

19
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

26
DON
1

16
19th27

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718192021222324PosPts
2012 Team Aon Ford Focus 1.6T ITA
1

16
ITA
2

13
ESP
1

12
ESP
2

Ret
MAR
1

Ret
MAR
2

6
SVK
1

Ret
SVK
2

DNS
HUN
1

11
HUN
2

19†
AUT
1

10
AUT
2

10
POR
1

Ret
POR
2

Ret
BRA
1

15
BRA
2

15
USA
1

17†
USA
2

17
JPN
1

19
JPN
2

16
CHN
1

Ret
CHN
2

Ret
MAC
1

12
MAC
2

12
20th12
2013 bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T ITA
1

7
ITA
2

7
MAR
1

3
MAR
2

4
SVK
1

6
SVK
2

17
HUN
1

9
HUN
2

4
AUT
1

2
AUT
2

1
RUS
1

8
RUS
2

10
POR
1

11
POR
2

1
ARG
1

9
ARG
2

7
USA
1

5
USA
2

8
JPN
1

5
JPN
2

5
CHN
1

3
CHN
2

6
MAC
1

6
MAC
2

4
3rd226

Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Blancpain Sprint Series results

YearTeamCarClass1234567891011121314Pos.Points
2015 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra Pro NOG
QR

11
NOG
CR

6
BRH
QR

8
BRH
CR

9
ZOL
QR

Ret
ZOL
CR

DNS
MOS
QR

11
MOS
CR

8
ALG
QR

6
ALG
CR

12
MIS
QR

8
MIS
CR

13
ZAN
QR

Ret
ZAN
CR

Ret
21st17

Complete TCR International Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar12345678910111213141516171819202122DCPoints
2015 Proteam Racing Ford Focus ST SEP
1
SEP
2
SHA
1
SHA
2
VAL
1
VAL
2
ALG
1
ALG
2
MNZ
1
MNZ
2
SAL
1
SAL
2
SOC
1
SOC
2
RBR
1
RBR
2
MRN
1
MRN
2
CHA
1
CHA
2
MAC
1

Ret
MAC
2

DNS
NC0
2016 Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil SEAT León TCR BHR
1

3
BHR
2

2
EST
1

6
EST
2

1
SPA
1

8
SPA
2

6
IMO
1

Ret
IMO
2

DNS
SAL
1

2
SAL
2

4
OSC
1

3
OSC
2

3
SOC
1

8
SOC
2

4
CHA
1

2
CHA
2

1
MRN
1

5
MRN
2

3
SEP
1

3
SEP
2

2
MAC
1

18†
MAC
2

8
2nd264
2017 Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing SEAT León TCR RIM
1

13
RIM
2

5
BHR
1

7
BHR
2

2
SPA
1

11
SPA
2

8
MNZ
1

12
MNZ
2

4
SAL
1

6
SAL
2

6
HUN
1

7
HUN
2

9
OSC
1

4
OSC
2

Ret
CHA
1

Ret
CHA
2

7
ZHE
1

9
ZHE
2

3
DUB
1

4
DUB
2

11
7th129

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 75% of the race distance.

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References

  1. O'Leary, Jamie (22 May 2009). "Nash to make BTCC debut with RML". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. "Nash in for Giovanardi". British Touring Car Championship . TOCA. 19 April 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  3. "Plato doubles up". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  4. "Shedden secures final victory". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  5. "Nash re-signs for Triple Eight". British Touring Car Championship . TOCA. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  6. Hudson, Neil (18 September 2011). "James Nash takes first career win at Rockingham". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  7. "Clock ticking for 'Fab Five'". British Touring Car Championship . TOCA. 4 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  8. Hudson, Neil (16 October 2011). "James Nash wins the independents' Championship". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  9. "Chilton and Nash to race for Arena Motorsport". touringcartimes.com. TouringCarTimes. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  10. Points for both Ford drivers in Slovakia, TouringCarTimes.
  11. Hudson, Neil (20 October 2012). "Engine changes send Arena to the back for race one". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  12. Mills, Peter (5 December 2012). "James Nash to drive for Bamboo in 2013 WTCC season". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  13. Hudson, Neil (24 March 2013). "James Nash leaves Monza with independents' points lead". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  14. Tremayne, Sam (7 April 2013). "Marrakech WTCC: Nykjaer takes maiden victory in race one". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  15. Tremayne, Sam (28 April 2013). "Slovakia WTCC: Coronel gives BMW its first win of 2013". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  16. Hudson, Neil (18 May 2013). "14 drivers under investigation post qualifying craziness". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  17. "MASS PENALTIES PUT NYKJÆR ON POLE". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  18. Tremayne, Sam (19 May 2013). "Salzburgring WTCC: Nash snatches first WTCC victory". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  19. "James Nash On His Move To GT Racing". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  20. "James Nash, 2014". December 2014.
  21. BTCC stars Shedden & Nash to race in British GT, British GT Championship.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to James Nash at Wikimedia Commons

Sporting positions
Preceded by World Touring Car Championship
Independents' Trophy winner

2013
Succeeded by