Newsham takes his second BTCC victory

Dave Newsham had the perfect home coming at Knockhill today by securing his second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car victory, at successive events. The ES Racing man was obviously delighted with the win and could be seen celebrating jubilantly inside his car as he headed for the Knockhill pits, where he received rapturous congratulations from his team-mates.

“We gambled on the setup in that race and l knew l had to get away. I also knew the tyres wouldn’t last and towards the end they were gone.

“Lucky we had enough to win, it’s unbelievable and very special,” said Newsham.

Probably just a unbelievable was the great drive and podium success that Jeff Smith pulled off in the final race. The Pirtek Racing man, had to fend off the experienced Matt Neal for most of the race, give credit where it is due, Neal, despite a few attempts couldn’t get past and Smith secured a famous podium.

“Absolutely brilliant, a huge thanks to my wife, kids and family for all their support over the years. It’s been a long time coming, but we are here now,” commented Smith.

Matt Neal managed to salvage some points from a dreadful weekend for himself by securing a third place finish. Those few points gleaned at Knockhill may prove vital come the end of the season. He now retakes the Championship lead from Gordon Shedden who couldn’t complete the race after an excursion off track, wreaked havoc with his car.

Neal though was forced to look at the positives from a difficult weekend:

“It’s nice to get on the podium at last. At the moment we’ve got to work with what we’ve got, it will be interesting to see what happens now with the boost levels heading to Rockingham.

“It has been hard work this weekend at Knockhill. I thought l was having a rotter, until l seen what Jason’s went through,” commented Neal.

And as for Plato, boost gremlins suffered in the 2nd race of the day simply meant he entered the final race merely looking to resolve the issue with his car.

“We’ve lost the boost, we needed to come out here and do a lap to see what the problem was.”

The Championship now heads to Rockingham with the Championship standings looking very similar to when they arrived at Knockhill. Matt Neal still leads from Shedden, with Plato in third.

As ever, Knockhill has conjured up some unpredictable results, with the underdogs claiming a number of successes. The racing has been frantic, exciting and controversial, just another Sunday in the heart of Fife then.

We are obviously delighted with the way in which everyone has embraced the 20th Anniversary celebrations. With that we’d like to thank the Teams, Officials, Marshalls, Staff and of course, the fans, for turning out to make today very memorable and rewarding for everyone connected with Knockhill Racing Circuit.

Please do have a safe journey home!

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