Newsham's uses tragedy as inspiration for BTCC journey
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DRIVING around Knockhill was nothing compared to a solitary night-time drive up the A9 for Dave Newsham.
After all the corners he has conquered as a British Touring Car driver, the hardest drive of all came when Newsham had to head back to the Highlands in the middle of the night with his mother moments from passing away.
Dorothy Newsham, or Dot as she preferred to be known, died at Raigmore Hospital in August with her son preparing to race in Fife at the weekend.
It turned out to be Newsham junior’s best weekend of the season, finishing second in the final race at Knockhill for the AmDTuning.com team’s first-ever podium finish.
"It felt like she was watching over me," Newsham admits.
Motorsport is something that is near and dear to Newsham’s heart — as a youngster growing up in Lancashire, his father Charlie started up the local grass-track junior riders club which Newsham took part in from the age of seven.
The club is still running today and the 47-year-old appreciates how big an influence his family played in the pursuit of his motorsport dream.
"My father was racing bikes long before I did and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have got into it," said Newsham.
"He would always encourage me to be working on bikes. Unfortunately when I got to 17 or 18, I decided to go off chasing girls instead and the bikes didn’t get much attention.
"Motorsport has always been a huge part of my life."
Newsham is the first to admit that 2014 has been a "horrendous" year for him, on and off the track. Coupled with the passing of his mother, the Newsham family also lost their dog Skye, while he lost his drive for 2015 with AmDTuning.com as they chose to take Mike Bushell on as a cheaper option.
Regrets are few though, with the pinnacle of his 2014 season coming at Knockhill in the most emotional of circumstances. Newsham, who lives with his wife Jackie in Westhill, was relieved to have the race and help take his mind of events back home.
"Mum had cancer and we knew it was terminal. She was taken into hospital with a lung infection but told me to go down to Knockhill and race," he said. "But when I was down the road I got a call from Jackie saying she had deteriorated quickly. I headed back to Inverness and managed to hold her hand while she died.
"Having the race was a welcome distraction — it meant I had to focus on the job at hand and didn’t think about what I could be doing at home. I wanted to get away as soon possible.
"After all the drives I’ve done, that drive back up the A9 was the hardest one."
It was family that also played a big part in Newsham calling Inverness home. His father worked for Kenco and in 1994, was given an agency to run in the north of Scotland. Initially taken on as an engineer for the company, he took over as managing director when Charlie died in 2000.
At the time, the former Speedworks driver began kart racing in Golspie, which took him all over Scotland. He finished in the top three several times before trying his hand at the Legends series, where he maintained the car himself and finished second in the championship, surpassing numerous bigger teams. A triumph in the Clio Cup brought about his BTCC debut in 2011.
Away from the track, his new company, Norscott Vending, bought out the Kenco branch and Newsham has expanded its operations — from having just five staff, he now has 18 and an office in Aberdeen.
Adorning his Stadium Road office are trophies he has won over the years, from racing in the Legends series to the Jack Sears Trophy he earned in the BTCC this season for recording the most overtakes.
Age is not a barrier to success for the racer, who still has the hunger to compete at the highest level.
"If I was in one of the top teams then I would be up their challenging for the title, without doubt. I believe I’m as good as anyone on the track and just need the right equipment," he said. "But unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to raise the kind of money required to drive for them, so that will have to remain a pipe dream.
"I spoke to Jack Sears last weekend at an awards dinner and he told me he retired at the age of 35, albeit because of injury. I’ve got no plans to walk away from something I’m good at.
"Jason Plato is the same age as me, Matt Neal is a year older so age is not an issue. The cars are not extremely physical like Formula 1 cars, which pull some serious Gs.
"Being a mature head in this environment is definitely an advantage."
