Dave Newsham takes first BTCC win at Snetterton

Dave Newsham has taken his first career win in the British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton, finishing ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole’s West Surrey Racing BMW and Gordon Shedden’s Honda, who takes the lead of the Championship.

Lea Wood started from pole position in the Team Wood Racing Vauxhall Vectra alongside Dave Newsham’s Team ES Racing Vauxhall. At the start, Tom Onslow-Cole got the jump on Newsham in his rear-wheel drive BMW, but Wood held the lead into the first corner.

Newsham was able to get back ahead of Onslow-Cole further around the lap, whilst Matt Neal was knocked wide by Frank Wrathall’s Toyota, which dropped him down to 20th position.

Mat Jackson put the Motorbase Performance team’s brand new Ford Focus ST in a provisional podium spot after passing Onslow-Cole just before Coram, with Gordon Shedden also moving up past Onslow-Cole on the following lap.

Newsham closed down on Lea Wood and took the lead on lap four into Montreal, whilst Shedden’s good work passing Onslow-Cole was undone as the Scotsman tried to pass Mat Jackson’s Ford at Oggies but ended up losing the place to Onslow-Cole instead.

A mistake by Jackson on lap seven saw him drop three spots to Onslow-Cole, Shedden and Jason Plato’s MG.

Matt Neal was still charging through the order and was able to take advantage of an incident between Rob Austin’s Audi and Rob Collard’s BMW, which saw Austin forced into the pits to retire and allowed Neal up into 10th, which soon became ninth as Lea Wood’s Vauxhall was forced to retire from second place with a gearbox issue.

Newsham went on to take the win, his first in only his second year in the Championship, and the first for the Team ES Racing team. Newsham was able to maintain a three second lead until slowing down to take the chequered flag from Tom Onslow-Cole, with Gordon Shedden grabbing third, and in doing so takes the lead of the Championship going to his home race in two weeks at Knockhill.