Newsham has talks with "top three" team
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DAVE Newsham has had talks with a top-three team in the British Touring Car Championship this week as he steps up his search for a 2015 drive.
The Westhill racer spoke to the team on Wednesday morning but both parties are still far apart from agreeing a financial package.
A deadline of mid-February has been set by the team, which Newsham remained tight-lipped over, to find a new driver.
Triple Eight Racing, who won the constructors’ championship last season, are in the market for a new driver following the departures of Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff. The MG-backed team have signed Andrew Jordan for the 2015 campaign but are in the market for a second driver.
While an agreement is not close at this stage, Newsham is under no illusions that they want him on board.
"It’s just an incredible amount of money I’ve got to find. I’m trying to raise my budget and they have been trying to get sponsorship for me," he said.
"They want a driver in-place by the middle of February so they can start testing the new car. It needs something big to make it happen but it would be my chance of going for the championship. There’s no doubt about that."
A re-shuffle is also taking place at the West Surrey Racing team following the withdrawal of main sponsor eBay Motors. They fielded 2014 BTCC champion Colin Turkington but he has said he is keeping his options open regarding a 2015 drive. His team-mate Rob Collard was dropped for the new season, while the team’s third racer Nick Foster retired, to be replaced by Tordoff and Andy Priaulx.
Newsham spoke to WSR team boss Dick Bennetts at the recent Autosport Show in Birmingham about the level of work that went into preparing a championship-winning car. The 48-year-old found huge differences in the development of the WSR team and his drive last year with AmDTuning.com.
"I asked him if we ever had a chance of challenging at the top end and he told me no, not with the equipment they were able to afford at the front of the grid," said Newsham.
"Touring Cars is an expensive game and if I’m absolutely honest, we have never really done it right in my four years here. We’ve never been able to challenge the guys at the front because we’ve been dealing with budget cutbacks, rather than big bucks.
"Things can fall into place, like they did at Knockhill last year, but you are never going to do it on a consistent basis — unless you spend money."
With prospective parties imposing a deadline a month from now with regards to finding a new driver, Newsham is considering doing the same for himself.
He has had approaches from other teams on the BTCC grid and the outlook is more positive than it may have been a month ago, with interest in his services surfacing consistently.
A drive in the Porsche Carrera Cup is still an option if a Touring Car drive does not materialise and Newsham says it will come down to a personal choice.
"I need to ask myself if I am happy being a small fish in a big pond or if I want to be a big fish in a small pond," he said. "I’m still talking to teams in the Porsche Carrera Cup and there may be an offer that comes along that’s attractive to me. But there’s nothing quite like driving in the BTCC and I’ll keep aiming for that until all options are exhausted."
Scheduled interviews with Touring Car teams at the Autosport Show did not go as planned, with one team losing sponsorship for their car and thus unable to offer Newsham a drive.
The onus is now on Newsham to try and find as much sponsorship as he can — more than he ever has done during his BTCC career.
"The majority of my sponsorship comes from further afield so it would be great to get some more local businesses on-board," said Newsham, who is the managing director of Norscott Vending on Stadium Road. "I’ve got a few local sponsors but more always helps."
Anyone wishing to get in touch with Dave Newsham about sponsorship matters can contact him on 0845 241 3330 or email dave@norscottvending.co.uk.
