Craft-Bamboo Racing’s James Nash is expecting a challenging end to his inaugural season in the TCR International Series, which resumes this weekend in Thailand, with the Brit not having any experience of racing on three of the final four circuits.
Nash heads to the Chang International Circuit in Buriram third overall in the drivers’ championship standings, just seven points adrift of the points lead.
Nash expects a stern challenge in the coming races, which take place in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Macau.
“I’m ready for the TCR title run-in,” said Nash. “Of the remaining tracks I only know Macau, so with three new circuits to learn it’ll be a challenge but it is one I’m relishing.”
Having suffered from a number of technical issues this year at Craft-Bamboo Racing – including a double non-score in Italy – Nash believes that the worst of the problems are now behind him and the team.
“I’m confident that the technical issues we had before the break have now been solved and won’t reoccur,” added the Brit. “My focus is obviously to get more wins but I’m not going to pile on the pressure to do so rather, I need to continue scoring points consistently as I’ve been doing.
“Other than Italy where I had two non-starts due to engine failure, my worst results are a pair of eighth place finishes and I’ve had six podium results from the last twelve races I’ve started. Without the penalty in Russia, I’d be leading the championship so I think my strategy is a good one.
“Until we know what the Balance of Performance weights are we can’t really say if the remaining circuits favour our SEATS over the competition or not. Until you get out on track you can’t properly tell. Before the break I had confidently thought ahead of the event that Oschersleben would be a bad track for us and Sochi good but, the reality was the complete opposite.
“That said, irrespective of any weight issues, Buriram will be hard as I expect that the ambient heat will be an issue for us as it was in Russia.
“It’s something we’ll need to get on top of if we’re going to do well though mindful that we’ve got some testing time at the track before the event I’m sure that we will.”