James Nash to start on pole position in race two

James Nash is going to start from pole position in the second FIA World Touring Car Championship race at Marrakech thanks to the exclusion of Gabriele Tarquini.

Nash is going to start 10th in the first race but came close to retiring from the qualifying session as Aleksei Dudukalo locked his brakes and hit the rear of Nash’s Ford Focus.

“Apparently he’s been having a brake balance problem and couldn’t have been more apologetic. Now though, thanks to Tarquini’s misfortune it is possible that I might yet be starting in the top ten after all and hopefully from pole in Race two,” said Nash.

Arena Motorsport have made progress ahead of this weekend with both Nash and team mate Tom Chilton, starting eighth, being further up in the practice and qualifying sessions compared to the previous races.

“Overall this is a very encouraging performance. I think both drivers have done a fantastic job on a circuit they have never driven around before. Tom was quick straight out of the box but James has consistently improved. James did a great job to remain focused throughout the session after being t-boned at the first corner in Q1 meaning he had to return to the pits for hasty repairs. But the team did a great job to get him back out on track quickly and I think overall we can be really proud of what we’ve achieved,” said Team Principal Mike Earle.

The exclusion for Tarquini has been updated, meaning that he only is excluded from Q2, but not Q1. Tarquini will start from 12th in both races.