Delighted Austin says rebuilt Audi looks “mega”

Fans of the British Touring Car Championship will have become very familiar with a character called Sherman in recent weeks.

The name affectionately given by Rob Austin to his Audi A4 will be emblazoned across the chest of fans at Donington Park this weekend, after they snapped up t-shirts to help with the repair bill Austin faced after Brands Hatch.

Austin was involved in a huge accident in the third race of the day in Kent, which the popular 32-year-old initially though had left him with a £50,000 bill for a new shell.

Luckily, the damage was not as bad as first feared, but still left Austin with a not-insignificant bill in the region of £10,000. He says the “amazing” support from fans is one of the reasons he’s able to be on the grid this weekend.

Asked for his reaction when he surveyed the damage at Brands Hatch, Austin told TouringCarTimes: “It felt like my whole world was ending. I can’t explain it in any other way than that. It’s my livelihood and is everything to me.

“Initially I thought the shell was written off and that would have ruled us out for the next two meetings. You’re looking at £50,000 for a new shell at least, so it would have been 50 or 60 grand’s worth of damage. We were so, so lucky.

“When we started to look around we realised how lucky we had been. It was mostly all panel work. The TOCA parts were very strong and just broke where they should.”

Austin was full of praise for his Rob Austin Racing squad who have put his car back together, and the fans who have helped towards the bill. He has also been helped by new sponsors Exocet and Duo.

He said: “My boys – I swear to God, they are miracle workers. The car is better than new.

“There was a bit of an engine issue, so it’s had to go down to the engine builders, but it’s sorted now, and looking absolutely mega now it’s all back together.

“Our fans are just amazing. We were in proper trouble last year with a sponsor failing to pay us. We did the roof scheme and that was a huge help, and they have done it again here. I’m absolutely overwhelmed.

“Some people are not going to get the t-shirts as quickly as I was hoping – they were sold out within an hour! But it has gone a long way towards the cost of the repairs.”

Now his car is fixed, Austin is turning his attention to racing at a track where he has always performed well, including beating a certain Kimi Raikkonen to second place in a 1999 Formula Renault encounter.

He said: “I think and hope we are going to be even stronger than at Brands. Donington last year, we were well on the pace. We were easily top 10 in practice with plenty in the bag. Then I’d done two purple sectors in qualifying, and the engine gave up.

“I’ve always gone well there. I’ve had a lot of poles and won a lot of races. I beat Kimi Raikkonen round there and he’s gone on to do quite well for himself.

“Realistically, the plan is solid top tens all weekend, and if everything goes to plan, who knows?”