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A View From The Driver's Seat: Thruxton - Britain's fastest racing circuit

By Dave Newsham / MJP Media | 1 May 2013

Dave Newsham looks ahead to Thruxton - one of his favourite circuits.

Who would have thought that it is nearly a fortnight since our successes and bad luck at Donington Park. We now have sunshine, and warm sunshine at that, and a trip to one of my favourite circuits at Thruxton in Hampshire. Despite the fact that I can't go much further from home in the UK without getting my feet wet, I have always enjoyed Thruxton for all the right reasons.

The circuit is fantastically quick and you really have to be on it the whole time because any crashes here tend to be monumental. The setting is lovely and the circuit staff are always great and friendly hosts. Last year I even managed a 2nd place and there is no question - we need to be aiming for those kind of results again if we are going to climb up the championship order.

Thruxton is also a circuit that is very hard on the tyres as almost the entire circuit is done flat out. This really suits my driving style and also means that it is the only circuit on the calendar where we don't use the Dunlop soft tyres as they simply aren't able to cope with this amount of abuse. We also think that it will suit the Toyota Avensis.

This year we are hoping for good weather as last year there was a monsoon for all 3 days we were there. If you think the drivers and teams had it bad, there were the crowds and photographers who stood out in it and got very, very wet indeed in support of us.

It's been a tough start to the season for me and the Speedworks team, only finishing half of the six races so far, however we learned a lot from both Brands Hatch and Donington that will stand us in good stead for this weekend. We have to remember that I am new to the car and team and the team are doing a sensational job of integrating everything. I couldn't ask for more from a team or car - it is a real pleasure coming to work.

It is so competitive this year with very little in lap times between the whole NGTC field. It's clear the key to a good weekend is strong qualifying pace and then using that to be able to stay out of trouble ahead of the field. That is what we need to work on during our two practice sessions on Saturday - I am sure our race pace will be fine. Mind you, a little more luck would be welcome too!

I know that once again the fans will get behind us and cheer us on from both the trackside and the sofa. We are doing our best, guys and girls, to give you something more to cheer, so bear with us and your patience will be rewarded.

Dave #17

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