Rob Austin bemoans straight line speed woes

Rob Austin was left bemoaning straight line speed issues in his newly-rebuilt Audi A4 at Donington Park as he struggled to 18th in qualifying.

The Rob Austin Racing team boss qualified one spot behind team-mate Will Bratt, and said there was work to be done to get to the bottom of the problem.

Earlier this week, Austin told TouringCarTimes he was expecting strong top 10s at the Leicestershire track, based on the team’s showing last year.

Austin is driving an extensively rebuilt car, after it suffered heavy damage in a crash in the third race of the day at Brands Hatch.

Austin said: “We’re sure some of it is down to the gear ratios, but there’s something else and we need to go over both cars with a fine-toothed comb to put our finger on it.

“The chassis feels good as new – the team have done a great job in putting it all right again – and the general set-up is spot on. Ultimately, though, we’re losing out down the straights by quite a margin and that’s clearly not right. Hopefully we can fix it and come out showing the same form we did at Brands Hatch.

“Bear in mind at Brands we went from seventh off the grid to second by the first bend and then into the lead. If the cars are back on full song for the races then the fans and TV cameras at the first bend can expect us both to come through. We fully intend to come out fighting.”