Newsham craves Lady Luck's smile at Oulton Park
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DAVE Newsham is applying his old mantra of “the season starts here” today as he concedes he is not happy with where he sits in the drivers’ standings.
Bumps, shunts and scrapes have cost Newsham positions and points so far this season as he heads into Oulton Park in 15th place — two spots and 10 points behind team-mate Josh Cook.
The rub of the green has not gone for the Westhill racer so far in the 2015 campaign. Penalised, he believes unfairly, for exceeding track limits at Thruxton last time out, which cost him a potential P1 qualifying spot, plus collisions with Cook and Warren Scott, meant his chances of climbing up the leaderboard have been severely hampered.
Throw into the equation hits from Mike Bushell at Donington Park and Aiden Moffat at Brands Hatch and you can see why Newsham is cursing his luck again this campaign.
“We’ve had very little to show for our efforts so far and I’m not happy with where we are,” said Newsham. “The season starts today — I seem to be saying the same thing every year!
“We should have more points on the board but the car is getting better each time I’m in it.”
Where fortune is deserting Newsham, it has found favour in his team-mate Cook. The rookie driver has four top-ten finishes in his last five races and leads the chase for the Jack Sears Trophy, won by Newsham in 2014.
Despite the gap between them in the drivers’ championship, Norscott Vending MD Newsham does not believe there is a great deal to separate the pair.
“Josh is doing well and showing how quick the car can be. Having two drivers can only help the development of the team,” he said.
“There’s never much between us. I had the edge on him at Thruxton but because of what happened in qualifying, that pushed me right back. He’s had the rub of the green and seems to get away with a lot.”
Oulton Park reverts to its Island Circuit make up this season after a year using the International variation. The latter is a quarter-of-a-mile longer than the Island version but is less conducive to over-taking. The Island Circuit cuts out the Shell Oils hairpin but still includes Cascades and Druids Corner, tight left and right-handers.
“The Island one is the better race circuit. Last year was the first time I raced on the international one and it was like a procession. It was like Monaco,” said Newsham. “I was in about 16th or 17th last year and I could see the lead car in front, but everyone was travelling at the same speed.
“It’s a flowing track and you need hard-breaking areas to generate any over-taking. It’s a great driving circuit but not so great for racing.”
