Newsham in talks over new BTCC drive
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TALKS have begun between Dave Newsham and other British Tour Car Championship teams as he looks to secure a drive for next season.
Newsham was informed this week that due to financial constraints, his AmDTuning.com team could not retain his services and instead opted to sign Clio Cup champion Mike Bushell.
However, the Inverness driver has reasserted his desire to continue his BTCC career, which began in 2011, and has had early discussions with prospective employers. However, he is unsure at this stage how they may pan out.
"My budget requires a team with a title sponsor, so the teams I’ve spoken to are going away and working out what their budgets will allow," said Newsham, who wants to know by the New Year whether he will have a new team next year or not.
"I need to be racing for a team that’s going to be competitive. If that’s not going to happen then I’ll have to turn my attention to something else."
Taking a year out of the sport is not an option for the 47-year-old. He has a provisional drive lined up for 2016, but the team and car are not ready yet, so he needs to compete next season to maintain sponsorship.
His parting from AmDTuning.com team boss Shaun Hallamby was amicable and very much a last resort. Hallamby had tried to obtain a license for another car, to make the team more financially viable, but the BTCC grid is full and attempts to obtain a license from another team proved fruitless.
Hallamby subsidised Newsham’s drive in 2014 and he is grateful for that. However, it is a similar tale for the Carmarthen-born driver, who left the Speedworks Motorsport team last year in similar circumstances.
"We were zeroing on a good setup and both I and the team really wanted to stay together for another year," said Newsham. "I seem to be a developmental driver for one year then I’m out because of my finances.
"Tom Ingram got the benefit of our work this year at Speedworks and I’m sure it will be the same for Mike next year."
