Rob Austin planning to stay with Handy Motorsport in 2017

Rob Austin says it’s his intention to stay with Handy Motorsport next season after a strong season which saw the 35-year-old fighting at the front at Silverstone, taking his second podium result of the year.

Austin switched to Simon Belcher’s Handy Motorsport squad for this season after five years running his own team in the BTCC, with two career victories in 2013 and 2014. Austin had his second podium in Race 1 at Silverstone, and says they’ve found more pace over the race weekend, culminating in lightning pace in Race 3, which saw Austin drive from the back of the grid to the top ten before a puncture ended his charge.

“In the last race, we had nothing to lose, and there was something we wanted to try on the car for a while now and we put it on and it was awesome,” said Austin to TouringCarTimes. “Ash Sutton just turned in on me, as you would of course, and just caught the tyre the wrong way and as I came out of the corner it went, (but before that, the car) felt mega, we’ve found something that’s for sure.

“I’m really excited to get to Brands now. It feels like a new car. We qualified fifth in Race 1 and then finished third, we’ve had good pace all weekend and this has transformed it, it’s a rocketship now. We’ve made steps forward every time with this car. I didn’t expect it would take this long to get here, but we’re on top of it now.”

Austin added the plan is to continue with Belcher’s team for next season, even though they haven’t put anything in writing as yet.

“I’m fully committed here,” he said. “Not with a signed contract, but spiritually and emotionally I am. Working with Simon has been an absolute pleasure. He’s looked after my boys, looked after my fans and has very good business sense. We’ve got one of the smartest outfits in the paddock, and his long term goal complete aligns perfectly with mine, and my target is to win the championship, and I’m going to do it one day.”