James Elliott Martyn Nash (born 16 December 1985, in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

, Buckinghamshire) is a British

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

driver. On 16 October 2011, at the final round of the 2011 BTCC season, he clinched the independents' championship. In 2014, he is competing in the

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports G ...

for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.

Racing career

Early years

Nash raced in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

until 2005 when he started racing in

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

cars. He took one win, two poles, two fastest laps, one second and one third out of the six races in his first season. He was nominated for the

McLaren Autosport BRDC Award The Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award is an award set up in 1989, following the demise of the Grovewood Awards, to reward and recognise young racing drivers from the UK. As its names suggest, the award is backed by Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, ...

in 2006. In 2007, he finished runner-up in the

British Formula Ford Championship The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry-level single seater Auto racing, motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United ...

, his second year in the national series. Nash tested with

British Formula 3 The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

team Fluid Motorsport and then tested a Spanish Formula 3 Championship car at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

with

Team West-Tec Team West-Tec F3 is a motor racing team owned by Gavin Wills and John Miller based in Corby in the United Kingdom, the most successful team in the history of the European F3 Open Championship, it also won two drivers championships in the ASCAR ...

. He decided to turn his back on

single seater An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

racing and moved into

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

, racing in the

SEAT León Eurocup The SEAT León Eurocup was a one-make touring car racing series which uses SEAT Leóns, run by SEAT Sport. Background The championship began in 2008, making its debut at Circuit de Valencia, as a support series for the World Touring Car Champi ...

in 2008, a support series for the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

with WTCC team

SUNRED Engineering Sunred (short for ''Sun Race Engineering Development S.L.'') is a Spanish-based auto racing team and constructor. They are best known for competing in the World Touring Car Championship. Racing History While in the past Sunred had participated i ...

. He finished joint 4th in the championship, tied on 36 points with

Massimiliano Pedalà Massimiliano Pedalà (born 22 December 1969 in Cantù, Como) is an Italian auto racing driver. Career Early racing included the Italian Renault Mégane SportCup and the European Renault Clio RS Cup. In 2002 he competed in the Italian Alfa 147 Cup ...

British Touring Car Championship

RML (2009)

He made the step up to the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

in 2009 after being linked with

Tempus Sport Tempus Sport are a former British auto racing, motor sport team based in Milton Keynes. The team was set up in 2008, with a view to first start racing in 2009. Some of the personnel are former employees of experienced team Ray Mallock, RML, inclu ...

he completed a deal to race a third

Chevrolet Lacetti The Daewoo Lacetti is a compact car manufactured and marketed globally by GM Korea since 2002. The first-generation Lacetti was available as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon, styled by Pininfarina—and five-door hatchback styled b ...

for RML, making his debut in the fourth meeting of the season at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

. Nash was running in second place in his ninth BTCC race at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

when he made contact with Airwaves BMW driver

Rob Collard Robert John Collard (born 1 October 1968) is a British auto racing driver from Hampshire, best known for racing in the British Touring Car Championship, winning two races in a West Surrey Racing MG, and claiming the Independent's Cup title in 2 ...

, who went spinning off the track before rejoining in a heavy collision with the

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Stephen Jelley Stephen David Jelley (born 12 May 1982) is a British racing driver currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for One Motorsport. Career Single-seaters Born in Leicester, Jelley moved up from Formula Ford to the National Clas ...

. Nash went on to win the race but was excluded for his part in the incident.

Triple 8 Race Engineering (2010–2011)

Nash was without a team for the first meeting of the 2010 season, but was signed by

Triple 8 Race Engineering Triple Eight Racing (888 Racing) was a motorsports team formed in 1996 as Triple Eight Race Engineering, which competed in the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship. The team's original focus was to design, build an ...

to replace

Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi (born 14 December 1966 in Sassuolo) is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car racing, touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver ...

from round two onwards. At Snetterton, he finished tenth in the second race, before the reverse-grid system handed him pole for the final race of the day, but he spun out of the lead on lap two and

Gordon Shedden Gordon William Shedden (born 15 February 1979) is a British racing driver currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Speedworks Motorsport, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA. He has previously won the series on three occasion ...

went on to take the win. He returned to Triple 8 for a full campaign in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, with new teammate Tony Gilham in a second

Vauxhall Vectra The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car ( large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in saloon, hatchback and estate (from model year 1997 onwards) body styles, the Vectra was al ...

. He took his first career win in the reversed grid race at Rockingham, he started from fifth but led front row starters

Rob Austin Robert Christopher Austin (born 1 February 1981) is a British racing driver who formerly competed in the British Touring Car Championship. He was born in Evesham, Worcestershire. Racing career Formula 3 His career started in British Formula R ...

and

home to the finish line. He went to the final round at

in mathematical contention to win both the overall drivers' championship and the independent drivers' championship, a podium finish and two non-scores could not get him the overall championship but the independent victory in race one secured him the independents' trophy with a 32-point advantage over rival

Mat Jackson Mathew Jackson (born 10 June 1981) is a former British auto racing, racing driver. Racing career Early years Born in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, Jackson started racing in karts in his teens, before finishing 4th in the 2000 Renault Clio ...

. He also helped Triple 8 to secure the Independent Teams' Trophy.

World Touring Car Championship

Team Aon (2012)

After claiming the BTCC Independents Drivers Championship in 2011, it was announced in February 2012 that Nash would move to the

to partner

Tom Chilton Thomas James Chilton (born 15 March 1985) is a British racing driver who currently drives for Excelr8 Motorsport, Team VERTU in the 2025 British Touring Car Championship, British Touring Car Championship. He has spent most of his career competi ...

at Team Aon. He started on pole position for the reversed grid second race at

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

and held off

Franz Engstler Franz Engstler (born 25 July 1961) is a German auto racing driver. Racing career Born in Kempten im Allgäu, Engstler started racing in the European Hillclimbing Championship and the German Long Distance Cup, which he won. From 1988 he competed ...

in the early laps before eventually being overcome by

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 wit ...

. He finished the race in sixth place, scoring his first WTCC points. He qualified fourth for the next round at the

Slovakiaring Automotodróm Slovakia Ring is a motor racing circuit in Orechová Potôň, Dunajská Streda District in Slovakia, approximately away from Bratislava Airport. It was built between 2008 and 2009. Description New Zealand race car driver Ma ...

but was given a ten-place grid drop for failing the ride height check. Near the end of the Race of Hungary race two, he pulled off the track two laps from the end with a car problem but was classified 19th and last. He scored a point once again in race one at the Race of Austria and then repeated the feat in race two, coming through the field when many other cars were suffering punctures as a result of aggressive cambers. Nash retired from both races in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

due to a collision in the first race and a set up error in race two. An engine change for both Fords at the Race of Japan sent Nash to the back of the grid for the first race. Engine problems in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

meant he failed to finish either race, with his retirement in the second race being at the end of the warm up lap. Nash finished the championship in 20th place, two places above his teammate despite having not scored points since Austria.

Bamboo Engineering (2013)

In December 2012,

Bamboo Engineering Craft-Bamboo Racing is an auto racing team. It was founded in 2014 after the merger of Craft Racing from Hong Kong and Bamboo Engineering from the United Kingdom. Craft Racing was established by Frank Yu in 2009 and was a front running team in ...

announced that Nash would drive for them in 2013, competing in a latest specification Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T. He qualified fifth for the first race of the season and finished seventh in both races. He was second in the independents' class in both races which put him at the top of the

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Independents' Trophy going to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. He finished on the overall podium in the WTCC for the first time at the Race of Morocco, coming home third in race one. He then finished fourth in race two having started ninth. He finished outside the points for the first time in 2013 in race two of the Race of Slovakia having run off the road and through the gravel traps on the first lap. He recovered to finish seventeenth. At the Race of Austria after qualifying, Nash was investigated along with thirteen other drivers but no further action was taken. Twelve drivers were issued with grid penalties for the first race, moving Nash up from tenth on second on the race one grid while he would start from pole position for race two. Having finished second in the first race, he claimed his first overall WTCC victory in race two.

Blancpain Endurance Series

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (2014–)

In 2014, he will compete in the

for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, in car number 2, alongside teammates

Christopher Mies Christopher Mies (born 24 May 1989) is a professional German racing driver, and Ford Performance factory driver. He was an Audi Sport factory driver for 14 years from 2009 to 2023, competed in GT3 series such as ADAC GT Masters, GT World Chall ...

and

Frank Stippler Frank Stippler (born 9 April 1975) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Rolex Sports Car Series and the Swedish Touring Car Championship. He won both the Porsche Supercup and Porsche Carrera C ...

Other activities

Nash raced in the

Dubai 24 Hour The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai, UAE. It was inaugurated in 2006. Entrants and participants As with all races in the 24H Series, promoted by Dut ...

race in 2011, starting on pole position and setting fastest lap. That year he also co-drove a

Lotus Evora The Lotus Evora is a sports car produced by the British company Lotus Cars, Lotus. The car, which was developed under the project name ''Project Eagle'', was launched on 22 July 2008 at the British International Motor Show. The Evora S was launc ...

in the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports G ...

for a single race at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

alongside

Phil Glew Philip James Glew (born 28 June 1983 in Grimsby) is a British racing driver. He has previously competed in the British Touring Car Championship and British GT Championship. He is currently a commentator for ITV Sport's coverage support races on ...

.BTCC stars Shedden & Nash to race in British GT
British GT Championship. They finished as winners in the GT4 class.

Media career

In 2011 Nash furthered his amateur media career by working with various amateur production companies in a Stunt Driving and Driver Consultancy role appearing in

Charlie Simpson Charles Robert Simpson (born 7 June 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician from Suffolk. He is a member of the pop punk band Busted (band), Busted and the rock band Fightstar. AllMusic has noted that Simpson is "perhaps the only p ...

's hit single 'Cemetery' and working alongside

Dot Rotten Joseph Ellis-Stephenson (born 19 October 1988), better known by his stage name Dot Rotten, Zeph Ellis or Who's British is a British grime MC, rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer from Lambeth, South London. Having released a series of ...

in his 2011 release 'Keep it on a low'.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races)

Complete British GT Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap in class)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Blancpain Sprint Series results

Complete TCR International Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 75% of the race distance.

References

External links

* *
Profile at fiawtcc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, James 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Milton Keynes English racing drivers Formula Ford drivers SEAT León Eurocup drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers British GT Championship drivers Arena Motorsport drivers W Racing Team drivers Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers TCR International Series drivers