Power Maxed Racing - Donington Park

Power Maxed Racing are leaving Donington Park after their most successful weekend of racing to date in the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The pair of Chevrolet Cruze Saloons chalked up a pole position start, two top 10 positions in qualifying, three top 10 race finishes, a glut of overtakes and a Jack Sears Trophy win.

Race one saw Cook and Newsham start 6th and 10th respectively, the highest starting positions of the season for the pair of Power Maxed Chevrolets. Both got a great start with Newsham tucking in behind Cook toward the first corner. The team-mates switched places a few times in the opening laps putting Newsham up to 8th. Cook raced well, but the longevity of the super-soft tire caused him to succumb to pressure later in the race. Newsham kept pushing with a great overtake on the Honda of Matt Neal and Mercedes of Morgan to finish a season-best 6th position with Josh Cook just outside the top ten in 13th.

The grid for race two is set by the driver's fastest lap in race one, Newsham started 9th and Cook started in 13th. Both drivers had a storming first two laps and found themselves in 7th and 11th respectively. Lap 7 saw Newsham and Cook 9th and 10th until the pair switched places on lap 11. Newsham immediately came under pressure from Priaulx, who for the second meeting in succession, passed Newsham in a robust fashion. Cook maintained his pressure on the pack and put in some seasoned overtakes to climb the field and finish in a career-best P7 with Newsham bringing it home in 11th.

Josh Cook benefited from the luck of the draw as his number was pulled from the hat for the reverse grid and started race three on pole. Cook served up one of the most entertaining races of the year to date, losing out into the first corner to Collard, only to retake the place a few laps later. Cook vigorously defended the lead, but an incident with Smith saw both cars leave the circuit. Cook controlled the car like a champ and managed to rejoin with only a few places lost. Cook gallantly challenged to regain the places and ultimately crossed the line in 7th, clinching the Jack Sears Trophy honors for this round.

Race three was not one that Dave Newsham will want to remember. On the super-soft tire and after starting 11th on the grid, an incident saw Newsham pushed down to 15th by lap 3. Newsham was pushing hard for places until he was unceremoniously collected from a latterly repentant Mike Bushell, who has since been awarded 3 penalty points and a 5 grid place penalty for the incident.

Adam Weaver, Team Principal commented,

“Another great weekend for Power Maxed Racing. It is yet further confirmation that we have the right formula and I’m confident that the team will keep performing well and providing both drivers with great cars that have the ability to win races.”

The BTCC continues in three weekends time when the championship visits Thruxton. Full TV coverage as always can be found on ITV4.