MSD:
Finishing on top with the most over-
takes against competitors like Alain Menu,
Fabrizio Giovanardi and this year’s cham-
pion Colin Turkington is a major achieve-
ment. Is there anything specific that has
helped you achieve this, any exact setup,
for example?
DN:
The Jack Sears Trophy is not something
we set out to win this year. In fact, we only
really looked at it after the penultimate round
when we appeared second on the leader
board. Even then we could have manipu-
lated things going into the final round, but
instead decided to just treat it like any other
meeting, which was trying to get on the
podium. We produced our best qualifying
result of the year in tenth place, so we
thought we might not win the Trophy, but as
you may have seen, we were one of those
involved in the first corner incident that took
out a number of cars, including mine. What
has helped us win this award is purely down
to us struggling in qualifying. Our average
starting position has been mid-pack around
P16, however our race pace has been inside
the top ten. We are missing a trick with the
car setup. Others find up to one second on
new tyres in qualifying, we find approxi-
mately three-tenths. However, they come
back to our pace in the races.
INTERVIEW
16
MOTORSPORT DAYS ANNUAL
MotorsportDays.com
King of the
overtake
.
Having gained no fewer than 108 places in his NGTC Ford Focus over the
entire season, AmDTuning.com’s Dave Newshamwon the Jack Sears Trophy,
which recognises the driver that has achieved the greatest improvement from
their respective grid positions during the British Touring Car Championship
(BTCC) season. MSD caught up with him in search of some overtaking tips.
MSD:
Being awarded this Trophy shows
your competitiveness in 2014. Does this
give you more confidence for 2015? What
are your plans?
DN:
I would dearly like to stay with AmD for
next season. We have learned so much
together this year that will stand us in good
stead for next year. We must not, however,
lose sight of the fact the Ford Focus is the first
NGTC car AmD have run. We are a small
team on a very tight budget up against some
very big teams with a wealth of experience
and settled quick drivers. Looking back, we
could have done better, but we didn’t do too
bad either.
MSD:
Overtaking is very difficult in such a
close championship, but what sets you
apart from your competitors?
DN:
As I have said, I think circumstances put
us further back than our pace suggests,
therefore moving forward during races has
been easier than in other formulas, but what
I ammost proud of is my first lap pace. I have
made up on average 2.5 places on the first
lap of each race this season. That is some-
thing I have always been good at, and I guess
it comes down to reading the traffic whilst
cars are still packed together, and being
committed.
MSD:
BTCC is renowned for aggressive
overtaking, so does this make you more
aware of who you are trying to pass?
DN:
Knowing the drivers you are racing with is
very important. Some will defend very aggres-
sively, others will give you just enough room
to race. When you don't know the driver well,
it might not go so well. A good point in case
was at the final round at Brands Hatch, where
I tapped Chris Stockton into a spin on two
occasions, something I am not very proud of!
That was due to me not knowing the driver
well enough. In race one I went down the
inside of him into Stirling Bend, he didn’t see
me there and pinched me as he went for the
racing line. In the second race I was running
very close behind him when he braked a little
earlier than I was expecting, which caught me
out, sending him sideways again. I would,
however, like to think that my competitors see
me as a clean driver, but also one who is not
scared to get my elbows out either.
MSD:
How exactly do you go about over-
taking drivers?
DN:
There are a few tools I call upon. One
that is most satisfying is selling a dummy. The
driver sees you and defends the inside line. I
move to the outside making him think the
corner is safe and he leaves a little room on
