Mike Newton (racing driver)
{{Short description|British businessman and racing driver (born 1960)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox racing driver
| name = Mike Newton
| image = MikeNewton Spa2009.JPG
| caption = Newton signing autographs at the 2009 1000 km of Spa
| nationality = {{flagicon|GBR}} British
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|14 April 1960}}
| birth_place = Manchester, England
| module1 =
{{Infobox Le Mans driver|subbox=yes
| Years = {{24hLM|2003}} – {{24hLM|2011}}
| Teams = GNM & RML
| Best Finish = 8th ({{24hLM|2006}}, {{24hLM|2010}})
| Class Wins = 2 ({{24hLM|2005}}, {{24hLM|2006}}), LMS Titles 2 (2007, 2010)
}}
}}
File:MikeNewton LolaB08-80-Mazda in Spa2009.JPG.]]
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 raced 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rml-ad.com/racing/driverbiog_mikenewton2009.htm |title=RML AD Group | Drivers | Mike Newton |access-date=6 June 2010 |archive-date=17 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617222826/http://www.rml-ad.com/racing/driverbiog_mikenewton2009.htm |url-status=dead }}
Racing career
Newton began in motorsport as a marshal in 1977.{{Cite web|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-profiles/2008/02/26/business-profile-mike-newton-96026-20528245/|title = Liverpool Echo: Latest Liverpool and Merseyside news, sports and what's on}} 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 Nürburgring on the Nordschleife 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.
After a short break from racing, Newton returned in the MG-Lola EX257-AER #25 for the Masters Endurance Legends series, taking two class poles and two class wins in the Imola round in April 2018.
File:MGLolaEX257BRH.png at Brands Hatch.]]
Newton completed four rounds in the 2018 Master Endurance Legends, Imola, Silverstone, Nurburgring and Spa achieving 8 Class pole positions, 8 fastest laps, and 8 wins for LMP2 cars from 2000 to 2005. At the final round he competed in at Spa, in race 1 finished 1st LMP2 overall against cars of any era up to 2012, running as high as 4th overall in the second race. Newton still competes in the Masters Endurance Legends regularly with the EX257, having taken 4 class wins out of 6 races after the Silverstone Classic. He also took an overall podium and was the leading LMP2 car and in the two support races for the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same car, the EX257.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/03/29/mike-newton-racing-the-mg-lola-ex-257-almost-two-decades-on.html|title=Mike Newton, Racing The MG Lola EX 257, Almost Two Decades On|date=29 March 2021|work=Dailysportscar|accessdate=17 August 2021}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dailysportscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Endurance-Racing-Legends-Le-Mans-2021-Entry.pdf|title=24 HEURES DU MANS 2021 – ENDURANCE RACING LEGENDS|work=Dailysportscar}}
This was part of an impressive series of results in the Peter Auto Endurance Racing Legends delivering the following overall series results.
- 2020 – Peter Auto LMPB series runner up
- 2021 – Peter Auto LMPB series winner
- 2022 – Peter Auto LMP2B series winner
- 2023 – Peter Auto LMP2B series winner
The continuing participation in Masters Endurance Legends resulted in 4 outright podiums, 31 class wins from 19 events by the end of the 2023 season
In 2023, six of the events were campaigned in the 2006 MG Lola EX264 HU003 which was the Le Mans 2006 24Hr class winner, and 2007 LMES LMP2 Series winner, with 1 outright race win, 7 class wins and 3 overall podiums.
Career Results
=Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results=
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |
Year
! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}} ! {{Tooltip|Class |
---|
2003
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Graham Nash Motorsport |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| Saleen S7-R | GTS | 292 | 28th | 6th |
2004
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Ray Mallock Ltd. |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| MG-Lola EX257-AER | LMP1 | 256 | DNF | DNF |
2005
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Ray Mallock Ltd. |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| MG-Lola EX264-Judd | LMP2 | 305 | 20th |style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st |
2006
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Ray Mallock Ltd. |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| MG-Lola EX264-AER | LMP2 | 343 | 8th |style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st |
2007
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Ray Mallock Ltd. |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| MG-Lola EX264-AER | LMP2 | 251 | DNF | DNF |
2008
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Ray Mallock Ltd. |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| MG-Lola EX265-AER | LMP2 | 100 | DNF | DNF |
2009
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} RML |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| Lola B08/86-Mazda | LMP2 | 273 | DNF | DNF |
2010
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} RML |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| Lola B08/80-HPD | LMP2 | 358 | 8th |style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd |
2011
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} RML |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| HPD ARX-01d | LMP2 | 314 | 12th | 4th |
=Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results=
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |
Year
! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}} ! {{Tooltip|Class |
---|
2003
|align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} Graham Nash Motorsport |align="left"| {{flagicon|BRA}} Thomas Erdos |align="left"| Porsche 996 GT3-RS | A | 280 | 30th | 7th |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Mike Newton}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100725172808/http://www.ad-group.co.uk/index.htm AD Group]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110715191342/http://www.rml-ad.com/index.htm RML AD Group]
- [http://www.ad-teamtiga.com/ AD Team Tiga]
{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box|title= Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion|before=Juan Barazi
Michael Vergers|after=Jos Verstappen|years= 2007 with:
Thomas Erdos}}
{{succession box|title= Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion|before=Miguel Amaral
Olivier Pla|after=Tom Kimber-Smith
Karim Ojjeh|years= 2010 with:
Thomas Erdos}}
{{s-end}}
{{Cheever Racing}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Mike}}
Category:Businesspeople from Manchester
Category:British businesspeople
Category:24 Hours of Daytona drivers
Category:FIA GT Championship drivers
Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Category:European Le Mans Series drivers
Category:Racing drivers from Manchester
Category:24 Hours of Spa drivers
Category:Cheever Racing drivers