Newsham wants to put Ingram rivalry to one side
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DAVE Newsham hopes the mini-rivalry he has developed with Tom Ingram will not stand in the way of Power Maxed Racing’s progress at Rockingham this weekend.
Both drivers have had run-ins at Knockhill and Snetterton, with Ingram firing Newsham off at the latter and banging into the side of Newsham’s Chevrolet Cruze a fortnight ago.
As an experienced motorsport driver, Newsham tries not to get involved in disputes at the paddock. He approached Ingram after the race but the Speedworks racer maintained he had done nothing wrong.
For his misdemeanour at Knockhill, Ingram received penalty points on his licence and was sent to the back of the grid, which Newsham believes shows he was at fault. “If you get fired off or pranged into then you usually go up to the other guy in the pit-lane, have a chat and apologise,” said Newsham.
“I went up and spoke to Tom afterwards and he didn’t apologise because he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. He’d said he’d just seen a gap and decided to go for it.
“The fact that he’s got points on his licence and been sent to the back of the grid shows he was in the wrong. Hopefully he doesn’t cost us again this weekend.
“You do get rivalries in the pit-lane but that’s not usually my thing. I’m the one who tries to be friends with everyone.”
Newsham is the significantly more experienced driver, having 26 years on the younger Ingram, who is only in his second year racing in BTCC.
Westhill racer Newsham was defending 12th place when he was hit by Ingram last time out and was in the top 10 at Snetterton when he was taken out, which has cost PMR points.
This weekend at the Northam-ptonshire track of Rockingham, situated inside a speedway circuit, Newsham believes PMR can crack their qualifying conundrum and put themselves in position for a strong race.
The downside, he concedes, is that the race is one of the least atmospheric on the BTCC calendar.
“It’s based inside a mile-wide super-speedway oval and the spectators are well away from the track,” he said. “There is one main grandstand and at times it feels like you could be racing in the middle of nowhere.
“Rockingham is a very fast circuit — you take the first corner at about 130mph. It’s the only anticlockwise track in the UK, which suits me as an ex-speedway rider.
“Qualifying has held us back but we should go quite well here. It’s a similar setup to Snetterton in that it’s a very flat, wide track.”
Following the three races on Sunday there are only two weekends left on the calendar for the 2015 season. Silverstone and Brands Hatch round out this year’s championship and Newsham, who signed on with PMR for one season, will find his deal up.
No discussions are slated to take place on drivers yet, with the team costing up the development of a new chassis for the 2016 campaign. But Newsham hopes that he can remain with the team next year.
“I would like to stay on with the same team for more than a season,” he said. “I’ve not had that stability yet in my career and it always seems to be back to square one after a year in the car.
“I’ve just got to go with what I can afford. We all get on well and the team are pleased with the job I’m doing. But I will cross that bridge when I come to it.”
