James Nash optimistic ahead of Bahrain weekend

James Nash was second in the first free practice session of the weekend in Bahrain. The Craft-Bamboo driver was two tenths slower than pace-setter Jean-Karl Vernay’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

“The time was okay and I think our knowledge from last year helped a bit”, said the Brit. “Just getting some clear lap time was important.”

Despite suffering from a driveshaft problem, the Lukoil-backed driver is adamant there is more pace in the red SEAT León TCR: “We had a few issues when we came into the pits, we checked the car over and when we came out of the pits on the first flying lap we had an issue with the driveshaft. There’s some stuff to work on but we’ve got a lot of time left in us and in the car so I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

Craft-Bamboo’s form seems to have improved compared to a difficult opening weekend in Georgia, as Nash’s team-mate Pepe Oriola was fifth fastest in this morning’s session. Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 15:55 local time.