Rob Austin heaps praise on team and fans after maiden win

An overjoyed Rob Austin heaped praise on his team and fans after a hugely popular maiden BTCC win at Rockingham Motor Speedway.

The Rob Austin Racing team owner drew the biggest cheer of the season from touring car supporters when he took the flag in the second race in Corby, immediately celebrating with a huge ‘stoppie’ at the end of the pit straight.

Austin revealed after the race that he’d come close to quitting the championship over the difficulties he’s faced – and said winning made all the struggles worth it.

TouringCarTimes caught up with Austin outside a team awning packed with well-wishers drinking a toast to his win.

He said: “To come and beat the factory teams on a quarter of their budget, in a straight fight, feels super sweet. You almost feel bad, because they can never have that feeling!

“When I saw Mat Jackson had got up into second, I thought that was a good sign because I knew he didn’t have the pace in the dry.

“It allowed me to break Gordon [Shedden] a little bit, because the front-wheel drives are always a bit quicker in the first few laps. I knew I had to get my head down and do my best until their tyres started to drop.

“Once they did, it was quite comfortable really. I just got my head down and kept going.”

Austin is not normally a man stuck for words, but even he struggled to describe the enormity of what he had achieved in the immediate aftermath of the race.

He said: “I think [pit lane reporter] Alan Hyde stuck a microphone in my face when I got out of the car and literally, I had nothing!”

Austin went on to thank his supporters and team for his success, and revealed they had often been the reason he had continued in the sport.

He said: “The fans are amazing – they are the best bunch around. I love them to bits.

“Last year, we had the roof scheme, and we wouldn’t have been able to continue without that.

“And this year at the first round, that was a huge chunk of cash that shunt took out of our budget. We don’t get any extra for crashes – we’re not insured, because we can’t afford insurance!

“They all bought t-shirts – so many t-shirts – that it was more than half of the repair bill. Their support is certainly humbling.

“I’ve got to thank my team, who have all been with me since the start. We’re only a small team, I’m the only guy on the grid who engineers his own car. I drove the truck here, and I was here on Thursday putting up the awning.

“My number one mechanic has been with me since before touring cars. He’s living in my spare room at the moment!

“My dad is the team manager, my wife runs the hospitality and looks after the sponsors, and my other number one mechanic used to be my mechanic when I was doing Formula 3.

“We are a really close team. We have been through some really tough times, so to achieve this is not just for me, it is for all them. They have all put so much work in.

“I won’t lie. We have been close to jacking it in a couple of times, and there were couple of times where we were nearly out of choices, and would have been forced to jack it in.

“To stick through all that for this, is totally worth it.”