Thruxton offers Newsham encouragement

DAVE Newsham has faith that the fortunes of the Speedworks team can take a turn for the better as Thruxton prepares to hosts the latest rounds of the British Touring Car Championship on Sunday.

It has been a real mixed bag this season for Inverness driver Newsham, who finished just one of the three races at Brands Hatch on the opening day, before completing two at Donington last time out.

This has left Newsham and Speedworks playing catch up in the driver and team standings, but the 45-year-old is confident lessons have been learned from the disappointments that have blighted their campaign so far

"It’s been a tough start to the season for us, only finishing half of the six races so far," he said. "However, we learned a lot from Donington that will stand us in good stead for this weekend.

"Thruxton is one of my favourite tracks of the season. It’s very high speed that is really tough on the tyres, which should suit my Speedworks Toyota and my style of driving.

"I have always performed well there. We even gained a second place finish last year during a soaking wet weekend, so there’s no question, we need to be aiming for those kind of results again if we are going to climb up the Championship order.

"It is so competitive this year with very little in lap times between the whole Next Generation Touring Car field. It’s clear the key to a good weekend is strong qualifying pace.

"That is what we need to work on during our two practice sessions, as I am sure our race pace will be fine."

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