Dave Newsham heaps praise on team after Silverstone podium

Dave Newsham lavished praise on his BTC Racing team after taking their maiden podium finish at Silverstone, and said he felt he had the pace to secure an even better result.

Newsham started from pole in the third race of the day in his Chevrolet Cruze, but after making what he described as the worst start of his career, he fought back from fifth to complete the podium behind Rob Huff and Matt Neal.

It completed an excellent day’s work and a trio of top 10s for the former Clio Cup champion, who finished seventh in the first race and ninth in the second.

The results also took Newsham through the 100 point mark for the season.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes about the third race, Newsham said: “It was the worst start of my career – I made an absolute hash of it, which was a shame because we had strong pace to keep people behind us.

“We had pace at the end, the hard tyre just took a bit of getting going at the start. It is just fabulous for the team – they have worked so hard and it is great to give them a bit of a reward.”

The podium place was secured after a fierce battle with Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan, with the Mercedes getting ahead in the early stages only for Newsham to re-pass him with five laps to go.

He said: “It wasn’t without contact, but he got past me in the same manner. I had more pace than him – when he got past I thought he would be quicker than me, but I was faster than him and had to get past him.”

Looking ahead to the future, Newsham is optimistic BTC Racing can continue to improve.

He said: “The team are doing a great job and we’re just getting going. We had a tricky start to the season which was always going to be the case with a new team, but we consistently click now and the last three or four rounds we have been quick.

“We are going to get some testing in and hit the ground running next year.”