General News

Newsham signs with Speedworks

Dave Newsham will race a Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis in 2013’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after signing with the Cheshire team.

Inverness racer Newsham was one of the revelations of the 2012 BTCC season as he achieved his first two race wins in Britain’s premier motor racing championship at the wheel of an older S2000-spec Vauxhall Vectra.

For 2013, though, he will now get his hands on a more superior NGTC-spec machine in the shape of Speedworks’s Toyota which he tested recently at Donington Park.

“I am absolutely over the moon about this deal,” Newsham told btcc.net. “I’ve been talking to Speedworks for a couple of years and now we’ve finally been able to do a deal. They are a very professional outfit, the engineering team there really know their stuff and my car will have all the latest developments on it. I cannot wait to get started.

“With the deal done so early it hopefully means we will be well prepared going into the opening round at Brands Hatch (30/31 March) and can target big points straight away. I certainly believe we will be able to challenge for the Independent drivers’ and teams’ trophies. However, I have to thank Tony Hughes who has driven for the team for the past two seasons – without him I don’t think I’d have been able to do this deal and his company’s name, Hughes Safety Showers, will be loud and proud on my car.”

Speedworks team principal Christian Dick added: “We are very excited about Dave joining us for 2013. He knows how to win from the front and how to conduct himself when in the thick of a battle. I’d also rank him as one of the fastest drivers on the grid and he is just the sort of driver who can help us build on the very encouraging season we’ve enjoyed in 2012.

“We have yet to decide who will race our second car and we are in discussions with several more top-class drivers.”