Vendman talks to Norscott’s Speed King Dave Newsham

In advance of the much awaited start of the BTCC season on 30th March, Vendman’s resident petrol head Emma Callear, caught up with Dave Newsham where he confided a ‘not so secret’ ambition…Her interview is reproduced here.  However, Planet Vending found this mini interview by the young Lewis, the new Murray Walker do you think?

‘I recently had the pleasure of meeting the vending industry’s resident racing driver, Dave Newsham, the man whose day job is Managing Director, Norscott Vending. It is hard to imagine that  the friendly, laid-back individual is the same guy as the one you watch behind the wheel on a racing weekend…

Racing has always been a huge part of Dave’s life: he won the Clio Cup Championship in 2010 with Team Pyro and has since joined the elite racers of the British Touring Cars Championship, (BTCC), where he’s become a fans’ favourite – he’ll always find time for those who ask for an autograph or a picture and he’s a pleasure to talk to.

Dave openly admits that last season, with Speedworks Motorsport, was disappointing but he’s moved teams and now, he’ll be racing for AmD. It’s a move that’s been discussed with Shaun Hollamby, the team principal, on a number of occasions but, unfortunately, there wasn’t a competitive car for Dave to drive. However, this year, all that has changed. With the purchase of Matt Jackson’s Ford Focus and with technical back-up from Team Airwaves and some trusted team personnel within the AmD team, it looks like this could be a great season.

The ‘Achilles heel’ of the Ford Focus has been its qualifying pace, but it’s regarded as one of the strongest race pace cars and testing has been focused on improving the qualifying pace. With all this said, Dave has high hopes for the season. His goal this year is a podium finish, but his dream result would be a couple of wins…

BTCC fans are looking forward to the upcoming season and no wonder: there are seven former BTCC champions on the starting grid, plus a whole host of champions from other categories, so it’s definitely going to be a highly competitive season.  Dave is a huge fan of Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi, the latter will be running in the Ford Focus for a sister team of Dave’s which will also mean that he will benefit from sharing data with him.

The first race of the season will be held at Brands Hatch on the 30^th March, which is also one of Dave’s favourite tracks as he gained his first BTCC pole here. Vendman are proud to sponsor Dave for the 2014 season, so we wish him the best of luck.

See BTCC For Yourself

Vendman invites our customers to experience a race day like no other. If you’ve never been to a race before I can highly recommend it as a thoroughly entertaining day out. You’re sure to get up close and personal to all of the action! If you’d like to join us, choose your local event from the list below and give me, Emma Callear, a call, on 0161 487 5999 or e-mail me at emma.callear@vendman.com

Cheers!

BTCC Calendar 2014

Brands Hatch – 30^th March

Donnington – 20^th April

Thruxton –  4^th May

Oulton Park – 8^th June

Croft – 29^th June

Snetterton – 3^rd August

Knockhill – 24^th August

Rockingham – 7^th September

Silverstone – 28^th September

Brands Hatch – 12^th October

Thanks for your contribution Emma, for more news on how Dave gets on this year, be sure to keep in touch with Vendman here.