Andre Newate
Andre Newate (born 27th May 1970 in Hong Kong) is somehow a racing driver. He is best known for his career in the World Touring Car Masters but he has also competed in touring car series and stock car series around the world, in a career remarkable for its combination of longevity and a complete lack of any noteworthy results.
1991-????: WTCM Career
1991
Near the end of 1991, Newate heard that the WTCM circus was coming to Macau for its season finale. Despite having little interest in motorsports prior, he decided on the spot that this was the path for him and promptly bought himself a Ford Sierra and founded Team Racing. Before the race, he garnered some attention by boldly announcing to the South China Morning Post his intention to win in his first ever car race, and that championship contenders Silvio Bachot and Johnny Cecotto were scrubs in comparison to him. Though he qualified surprisingly-high for the pre-qualifying race, he failed to qualify, woefully off the pace of the leaders, but his surprisingly-competent defensive driving meant everyone behind him had their pre-qualifying race ruined too.
1992
Newate returned to WTCM for a full season campaign in 1992, again with Team Racing; however, the Sierra had been replaced with an Opel Vectra bought from Larsen Racing System. After an uneventful performance in pre-qualifying for the season-opener, Newate made headlines by threatening Toyota with blacklisting in Hong Kong if they did not immediately sell him a works-spec 1992 Toyota Carina II, the car which had won every single race held over the weekend. When Union Saver Developments predictably refused to give him a car, his father, by this point a councillor on the nascent LegCo, tacked on an amendment to the Imports/Exports Bill being debated there, banning the import of all Toyotas into Hong Kong, very clearly both to benefit his son. This sparked fury across the territory that would ultimately lead to the so-called Toyota Protests: thousands of Hong Kong taxi drivers, many in Toyota Crowns, paraded down Queensway, causing total disrpution to Admiralty in an ultimately-successful attempt to kill the bill.
Complete WTCM Results
Year | Team | Car | Class | WDC | Pts | Class | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Team Racing | Ford Sierra Sapphire | I | Template:AUS | Template:USA | Template:GBR | Template:FRA | Template:GBR | Template:BEL | NC | 0 | 58th | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | E | F | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | E | F | S | F | ||||||||||
AUS | AUS | JPN | JPN | USA | USA | AFR | AFR | RAC | PAU | CZE | CZE | ITA | ITA | GBR | GBR | SWE | SWE | SPA | GER | GER | MAC DNQ | ||||||||||
1992 | Team Racing | Opel Vectra | I | Template:AUS | Template:USA | Template:GBR | Template:FRA | Template:GBR | Template:BEL | NC* | 0* | 23rd* | 0* | ||||||||||||||||||
F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | E | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | E | F | S | F | S | ||||||||
AUS DNQ |
AUS DNQ |
JPN DNQ |
JPN DNQ |
USA DNQ |
USA DNQ |
AFR | AFR | RAC | PAU | PAU | CZE | CZE | ITA | ITA | GBR | GBR | SWE | SWE | BEL | GER | GER | MAC | MAC |