Rob Austin returns to scene of BTCC debut

Rob Austin returns to the scene of his BTCC debut at Donington Park this weekend, where he is hoping to “keep the championship leaders in sight”.

Austin first raced his Audi A4 at Donington in 2011, following an aborted first outing for Dave Pinkney at Brands Hatch a few weeks earlier.

The car is a very different beast now, and the Worcestershire racer is hoping for a strong weekend.

He said: “Donington has not been the kindest to me in terms of BTCC results yet, but the Audi’s chassis has always been very good there and we had a fantastic pre-season test at Donington when we learnt a lot and seemed to be on the pace of some other very fancied runners.

“So I’m confident – I know, I’ve said that before! But we showed we had great pace at Brands Hatch and it’s important I score well in all three races this weekend to keep the championship leaders in sight. I’m equal ninth in the standings at the moment and want to be higher than that by Sunday evening.”

Austin’s rookie team-mate Hunter Abbott is hoping to improve on a number of aspects of his performance.

He said: “Now I’ve had a taste of the BTCC at Brands Hatch I cannot wait to get back out there. The qualifying times won’t be as close as they were at Brands but my goals are to improve on my qualifying position from Brands and my race starts – they were diabolical! – plus, dare I say it, break into the top ten in a race. That would be fantastic.”