Newsham finally triumphs in BTCC
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DAVE Newsham is already looking to build on his maiden British Touring Car Championship victory with further success on home soil later this month.
Inverness driver Newsham, who made his debut at this level last year, followed up second and third place podium finishes with a triumph in the third race at Snetterton on Sunday.
The win was also a first for the team he joined this year, ES Racing, making it a memorable day all round for Newsham.
This debut success, however, could well be topped on Sunday 26th August when the BTCC comes to Scotland with Knockhill, Fife, the venue.
"It’s fantastic for this little team, particularly with Knockhill next up, which is going to be very special," he said.
"A win for little ES Racing and the sponsors, who keep our season ticking over, is just unbelievable, but thoroughly deserved. "The timing couldn’t be better either with Knockhill — my home race — next. It’s going to be a very special weekend."
With car troubles having marred a good start to the campaign before the mid-season break, Newsham returned determined to find form and a third place finish in qualifying suggested he had done just that.
He followed this up with a fourth place finish in race one, but in the post-race examinations his car was found to be underweight, meaning he would be excluded from the result.
It also resulted in Newsham having to start the second race from the back of the grid, although he did well to recover his composure and post an eighth place finish going into the final race.
With the modifications and improvements made to the car all working well, Newsham seized his chance to claim the win he had hoped for before the season began.
In the end, the win in his Vauxhall Vectra was a comfortable one. Tom Onslow-Cole was second in his eBay Motors BMW ahead of Jason Plato (MG6), who took another third.
The result means Newsham is ninth in the overall drivers standings on 114 points, while ES Racing are sixth on the team’s leaderboard having amassed 133 points.
Read Dave Newsham’s diary, only in the Inverness Courier, on Friday
