Craft-Bamboo Racing’s James Nash has dubbed it a ‘clever weekend’ for himself in the TCR International Series in Thailand, after his weekend started with a big crash and ended with him taking the points lead.
Nash’s weekend started with a bang on Friday, when the Brit suffered a heavy shunt in the third private test session for the TCR competitors.
After his Craft-Bamboo Racing team worked through the night to repair his SEAT León for practice and qualifying on Saturday, Nash put his car in sixth on the grid for the first race, which became fifth in the reverse-grid second race.
After scoring a solid second in race one, following team-mate Pepe Oriola home after a strong start, Nash then went on to win race two.
The Brit had again got himself up to third by the end of the opening lap, and after dispatching Thai racer Kantadhee Kusiri just after the safety car came in, he got past early leader Mikhail Grachev with ease.
Nash’s second win of the season moves him into the points lead, seven points ahead of Oriola after the Spaniard had a disastrous race following an early puncture.
“It was a very good weekend for me, especially after the big accident on Thursday,” said Nash. “In race one, not much happened. I had a good start, passing both [Stefano] Comini and [Jean-Karl] Vernay.
“When [Gianni] Morbidelli went a little bit wide, I could take second. This is a circuit where you really have to avoid going wide, as there is much dirt out of the track.”
Nash insists that he doesn’t want to think about the title just yet, with three meetings still to run in Asia.
“It’s a track that suits me very well, and race two went very smoothly,”added the 30-year-old. “I could pass Grachev, take the lead and keep it.
“I think we were clever throughout the weekend and keep raising our game. I am now leading the championship, but I don’t want to think about that until Macau.”