Rob Austin Racing to press on with new car despite sponsor loss

Rob Austin Racing are pressing ahead with plans to build a new car for the 2016 BTCC following the loss of title sponsor FAST Exocet, as the team was aware of their plans to withdraw before the decision to change their Audi A4s was made.

Team owner/driver Austin announced last month that his team was planning to retire the venerable A4, which was one of the first NGTC cars to race in the championship in 2011.

And shortly after this, it was announced that FAST Exocet would be ending their sponsorship deal with the team at the end of the 2015 season.

Austin’s plan is to build a front-wheel drive machine to replace the Audi, and the team are talking to various manufacturers about possible support for the new car.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes at Rockingham, Austin said: “We’ve had a fantastic three years with FAST Exocet but the title sponsorship was a two-year deal, and we knew with their business model they would be unlikely to stretch to any more years.

“It’s not come as a surprise and it’s not ended our plans. They’re a fantastic company and we’re just really grateful for their support.

“I think the chances are it [the new car] will be front-wheel drive. I think the only other car which is rear-wheel drive and is suited to the regulations is that 1-Series, and I wouldn’t like to go directly head-to-head with West Surrey Racing!

“We’re going to manufacturers, and whichever one gives us the most support and has a car that will be competitive within these regulations, we will choose.”

Austin had a mixed weekend at Rockingham, a circuit which has been very kind to him in the past with two wins and a second place.

His first race chances were scuppered due to a problem with the Cosworth electronics system on his car, but he managed to rejoin and set a laptime good enough for seventh on the grid for the second race.

He backed that up by moving forward a place to sixth, and a second top 10 of the weekend followed with seventh in the final race.

Assessing his weekend, Austin said: “We’ve not quite had the balance we’ve managed to get on the car in years past. We’ve still been reasonably competitive, but I think we should have had three top 10s. We were quite unlucky with the Cosworth issue.

“It’s dawning on me that it’s going to be very difficult to get a podium this year now, and it’s very frustrating. I just want to be on a level playing field and have my chance.

“I’m not denying that we could have done a little bit better on Saturday, and I needed to find a little bit more in myself. But on Sunday I don’t think there was a fat lot more we could have done. I think that was as fast as it would go!”