- Mike Newton (racing driver)
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Mike Newton
Newton signing autographs at the 2009 1000 km of SpaNationality British
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) 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. 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]
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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.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year Class No Tyres Car Team Co-Drivers Laps Pos. Class
Pos.2003 GTS 64 D Saleen S7-R
Ford 7.0L V8Graham Nash Motorsport
Ray Mallock Ltd.
Pedro Chaves
Thomas Erdos
292 28th 6th 2004 LMP1 25 D MG-Lola EX257
MG (AER) XP20 2.0L Turbo I4Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML)
Thomas Erdos
Nathan Kinch
256 DNF DNF 2005 LMP2 25 M MG-Lola EX264
Judd XV675 3.4L V8Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML)
Thomas Erdos
Warren Hughes
305 20th 1st 2006 LMP2 25 M MG-Lola EX264
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML)
Thomas Erdos
Andy Wallace
343 8th 1st 2007 LMP2 25 M MG-Lola EX264
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML)
Andy Wallace
Thomas Erdos
251 DNF DNF 2008 LMP2 25 M MG-Lola EX265
MG (AER) XP21 2.0L Turbo I4Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML)
Andy Wallace
Thomas Erdos
100 DNF DNF 2009 LMP2 25 M Lola B08/86
Mazda MZR-R 2.0L Turbo I4RML
Thomas Erdos
Chris Dyson
273 DNF DNF 2010 LMP2 25 D Lola B08/80
HPD AL7R 3.4L V8RML
Thomas Erdos
Andy Wallace
358 8th 3rd 2011 LMP2 36 D HPD ARX-01d
HPD HR28TT 2.8L Turbo V6RML
Thomas Erdos
Ben Collins
314 12th 4th References
External links
Categories:- Living people
- 1960 births
- People from Manchester
- British businesspeople
- British racecar drivers
- Formula Ford drivers
- 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
- FIA GT Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- Le Mans Series drivers
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