Rob Austin “over the moon” with media day test result

Rob Austin declared himself “over the moon” with an impressive showing in Donington Park’s official media day test, after winding up third quickest in his new Toyota Avensis.

Austin’s best time was 0.157 seconds away from the pacesetting Honda Civic of Matt Neal, after a session which saw him head the times for much of the first two hours.

The 34-year-old said he worked through a variety of programmes during the day, including race runs and qualifying simulations.

Austin said: “It really couldn’t have gone better. We were hoping to be at the front but we didn’t try to set out-and-out lap times, we had a big programme to work through and just happened to be at the front which was obviously nice! I’m over the moon with today but we have got to be realistic with our expectations for Brands, going fast is only one part of it in the BTCC.

“I’ve still got a lot to learn with the front-wheel drive. In my 20-year racing career I’ve only done three races in front-wheel drive, and that was 12 years ago, so Brands will be a big learning curve for me. We’re keeping it realistic but this is a fantastic start, especially considering we didn’t throw a load of new tyres at the car to just go for times.”

Team principal Simon Belcher, who is taking a year out from driving duties, added: “I’m happy, Rob is happy, and he actually left a couple of tenths on the table from his ideal time so there was the potential to be quickest overall. I really am elated the team has been this competitive, we thought we could be from winter testing and the car has been trouble-free all day.

“We need to see where we are at Brands before we get a true picture, but Rob is driving fantastically and after racing rear-wheel drive so long, he has adapted to front-wheel drive unbelievably well.”