Speedworks Motorsport suffered a testing opening weekend of the 2013 British Touring Car Championship as its pace didn’t convert into race results.
The team, who are running a brace of Toyota Avensis for race winner Dave Newsham and former Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 1 Champion Ollie Jackson both secured a top ten result as well as both having bad luck in the other races.
It was Jackson who scored the first points of the season for the team as he brought the #48 car home tenth in round one, having come out on top of a three way battle with Dan Welch and Will Bratt.
“For my first race in the car, it’s a great result. I enjoyed the scrap, even though it got a bit lairy out there at times,” explained Jackson.
“An oil temperature light flickered early on and it distracted me, so I lost time and places. It was good to claw those back.”
Race 2 saw Jackson opt to go for the soft Dunlop but after three laps, his weekend was over after he slid off the circuit at Paddock Hill Bend and damaged the front of the #48 Avensis.
Newsham saw his weekend start strongly after he qualified inside the top 6 – but he was unable to convert his qualifying performance into a good result in race one as his alternator failed while he was running fifth.
Starting from the back of the grid for the second race, the Inverness based racer made up 10 places on the opening lap and was inside the top 12 by the end of lap three. He finished tenth after a spin which damaged the steering on the #17 Avensis.
Worse was to come in the final race as he spun on cold tyres at the start of lap 2 and was involved in a massive accident with Rob Austin in the WIX Racing Audi A4.
“It was a weekend to forget,” said a rueful Newsham.
“I feel bad for Rob; the back end just got away from me, which is the same problem we’d suffered all weekend with cold tyres providing next to no grip.”
Looking back at the weekend, Speedworks Motorsport team principal Christian Dick sees the events of 2012 repeated this year: “It was another challenging first day, just like it was last year,” explains Dick.
“We’ve learned a lot, both on track and off it in terms of preparation and organisation, that will be put right in time for the second round [at Donington Park].
“There are things to feel positive about too, not least that Dave and Ollie showed that they have the speed to be contenders at the sharp end,” he concluded.