Mike Newton (racing driver)

Mike Newton

Newton signing autographs at the 2009 1000 km of Spa
Nationality United Kingdom British
Born 14 April 1960 (1960-04-14) (age 56)
Manchester, England
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 2003
Teams GNM & RML
Best finish 8th (2006, 2010)
Class wins 2 (2005, 2006), LMS Titles 2 (2007, 2010)
Newton driving at the 2009 1000 km of Spa.

Mike Newton (born 14 April 1960 in Manchester) is a British businessman and racing driver. He is the founder and CEO of the AD Group of companies, which includes its solution arm AD Network Video. He races in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans in cars prepared by the RML Group. Newton was named Britain's Top Entrepreneur by Management Today magazine in 2005.[1]

Racing career

Newton began in motorsport as a marshal in 1977.[2] In 1985, he took part in his first circuit race in Formula Ford. He was a regular competitor in Champion of Oulton Park Formula Ford series from 1985 through 1997, and had top three championship finishes between 1995 and 1997. In 1999, he finished sixth in the Bathurst 500. In 2001 he finished first in class at the 6hr Langstreckenpokal (VLN) at the Nurburgring on the Nordschliefe in an ex-Dick Johnson ATCC Falcon EL, and repeated that feat at the 2002 Grand Am Finale GTS Class in a Saleen S7R at Daytona.

In 2002 Newton made his GT debut at both the Daytona 24 Hours and British GT in a Porsche 996 GTR with Graham Nash Motorsport.

In 2003 he made his debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing a Saleen S7-R for Graham Nash Motorsport alongside Thomas Erdos and Pedro Chaves, the car being sponsored by some of Newton's companies. The team finished sixth in the GTS class. Newton and Erdos also raced the car in the FIA GT Championship.

For 2004 Newton and Erdos continued to race the Saleen in FIA GT for RML. They also raced in the Le Mans Series for the team in an MG-Lola EX257. They also raced the car at Le Mans, but retired from the race. In 2005 the team moved from the LMP1 category to the LMP2 category, winning the class at Le Mans and finishing second in the Le Mans Series. They repeated this feat in 2006. In 2007, Newton and Erdos won the Le Mans Series LMP2 category.

In 2010, Newton, Erdos and Wallace finished third in the LMP2 Class at Le Mans in a Lola HPD Coupe, and Newton and Erdos won the Le Mans Series LMP2 Drivers Title, with RML winning the LMP2 Team title, accompanied at different races by both Andy Wallace and Ben Collins.

In 2008 Newton was elected Vice-President of the British Motorsport Marshals Club. Newton has been a BRDC member since 2008.

For 2012 Newton stepped back from the troubled ELMS series due to a lack of funding from ailing business interests, and undertook the development of a Speed Euroseries CN car, bringing the Tiga Race Cars name back to Sportscar racing with the Tiga CN012, leading the development activities, and also as a driver, partnered by Dean Stirling. Newton also made a one off appearance in the Silverstone Classic in the Fujifilm Touring Cars race in a 1995 RML Group Super Touring Cavalier.

Career Results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2003 United Kingdom Graham Nash Motorsport
United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd.
Brazil Thomas Erdos
Portugal Pedro Chaves
Saleen S7-R GTS 292 28th 6th
2004 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Nathan Kinch
MG-Lola EX257-AER LMP1 256 DNF DNF
2005 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Warren Hughes
MG-Lola EX264-Judd LMP1 305 20th 1st
2006 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
MG-Lola EX264-AER LMP2 343 8th 1st
2007 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
MG-Lola EX264-AER LMP2 251 DNF DNF
2008 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
MG-Lola EX265-AER LMP2 100 DNF DNF
2009 United Kingdom RML Brazil Thomas Erdos
United States Chris Dyson
Lola B08/86-Mazda LMP2 273 DNF DNF
2010 United Kingdom RML Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
Lola B08/80-HPD LMP2 358 8th 3rd
2011 United Kingdom RML Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Ben Collins
HPD ARX-01d LMP2 314 12th 4th

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2003 United Kingdom Graham Nash Motorsport Brazil Thomas Erdos
Austria Manfred Jurasz
Australia Rod Wilson
Porsche 996 GT3-RS A 280 30th 7th

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mike Newton.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Juan Barazi
Michael Vergers
Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion
2007 with:
Thomas Erdos
Succeeded by
Jos Verstappen
Preceded by
Miguel Amaral
Olivier Pla
Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion
2010 with:
Thomas Erdos
Succeeded by
Tom Kimber-Smith
Karim Ojjeh
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