James Nash’s win sees him extends Trophy points lead

bamboo-engineering driver James Nash’s first overall win and second place in race one at Salzburg were also replicated in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy, which allows him to extend his lead over new closest rival Michel Nykjaer.

Nykjaer won race one and Nash race two, which meant the two picked up the same points in terms of positions, but Nash’s fastest lap in race two means he gains an extra point and now leads with 78 points to Nykjaer’s 70.

The two drivers’ battle also crosses over into the overall championship, where Nash now lies third with 108 points, just 12 points ahead of Nykjaer.

Nash’s bamboo-engineering team-mate Alex MacDowall also enjoyed a positive weekend, making the best out of a bad grid position of 12th in race one after he was hit with a grid penalty along with 11 other drivers to finish in fifth position.

MacDowall is therefore just four points behind Nykjaer in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy standings, with the three Chevrolet drivers beginning to pull away from the other drivers in the category.

Nash’s win in the second race came after he claimed pole position after qualifying in tenth place for race one, and therefore acquired pole for the reverse grid. Though Nash was planning to improve on his second run in qualifying, he was held up by the pack who were holding station behind Tom Chilton’s RML Chevrolet and so was unable to improve. In the end this was a blessing for him and Nykjaer who were both promoted to the front row for race one after everyone else’s penalties.

In race two, although Michelisz was able to pass Nash at the start, the 27-year-old was able to get back ahead and hold on to his lead to score his first race victory in the WTCC, and his first race win since the British Touring Car Championship’s 2011 season.

“I had to work for it, Norbi (Michelisz) didn’t let me go. It was just a case of managing the gap and the tyres, and on the last few laps Yvan was approaching pretty quick so that’s when I started to lean on my tyres a bit more,” said Nash.

“Yvan had some pace behind him, he’s in the same car, same equipment so there’s no reason why I couldn’t have done the same lap times as him, the only advantage he had was a tow, so it was all about hooking each corner and each exit.”

Nash hopes his first victory will be the start of a turning point, after struggling to adapt to the Chevrolet after switching over from the Ford Focus last season.

“I always have high expectations of myself and I know what the car’s capable of, I’m not achieving the capabilities of the car but it’s all down to me getting to grips with it…this win today has given me some confidence to move forward.”