Qualifying report
BTCC
Third place for Newsham in thrilling Snetterton qualifying
Edited: Aug 12, 2012, 1:53 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Team ES Racing had a positive return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship today at Snetterton when Dave Newsham qualified in third place, just 0.054 seconds away from pole position while team-mate and team principal Chris James finished the session in fifteenth.
Dave Newsham, ES Racing
Photo by: Pat Cranham
The day didn’t start well after radiator problems put Newsham out of the first practice session. Newsham made it out for second practice and soon started to signal his intentions as he set the second fastest time just behind Jason Plato.
It took some time to set a time in qualifying after a red flag interrupted the first flying laps for the Team ES drivers. As the session resumed and the drivers headed out James was unlucky to pick up a puncture and had to limp back to the pits on a rim. Thankfully there was no major damage cause by the blow-out and James was able to resume the session promptly.
The first flying lap of the session from Newsham catapulted him up the timesheets placing him second, just behind the flying Toyota of Frank Wrathall. As the session went on the times fell and the top three would be covered by just 0.054 seconds as the chequered flag fell. Team-mate James had been putting in consecutively faster laps and finished the session in fiftheenth, just 0.042 seconds behind Rob Austin, who himself was only 0.020 seconds off the pace of Andy Neate in the works MG.
“It started off with a bit of a problem with Dave’s radiator, but at least it happened in first practice, hopefully that’s the bad luck for the weekend out of the way” reflected James. “I was happy with my pace in free practice two but qualifying started with a puncture which was far from ideal.”
“It’s a shame I couldn’t be a little further up the grid as I’ve got Nick Foster behind and he’s likely to be quick of the grid in the rear wheel drive BMW, but we’ll plug away and look to stay out of trouble on the opening laps.”
Newsham added: “I’m happy with today, and I’m surprised at our pace in comparison to the NGTCs. We know we have great race pace as we did a long run this morning and were competitive times.
“I’ll be looking to get off the grid cleanly and let the grid sort themselves out before we can see where we are. I’ll be attackin early, and if we have the pace I’ll be going for the win, we just have to see how we get on.”
Source: Team ES Racing
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Redstone Racing pleased with new Ford in qualifying at Snetterton
Next article Starworks Motorsport doubles at The Glen
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Nick Foster
Cassidy joins Spa 24 Hours with Ferrari squad
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
24 Hours of Spa
Cassidy joins Spa 24 Hours with Ferrari squad
California 8 Hours: HubAuto Corsa Ferrari beats Mercedes, Porsche
Endurance
Endurance
California 8 Hours
California 8 Hours: HubAuto Corsa Ferrari beats Mercedes, Porsche
Taiwanese team signs Supercars guns for Bathurst bid
Endurance
Endurance
Taiwanese team signs Supercars guns for Bathurst bid
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 10 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
12 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 12 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
12 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe