Rob Austin: “I’ve never had this much bad luck”

Rob Austin admitted to being frustrated after encountering more bad luck when the BTCC headed for Croft for the fifth meeting of the year.

The HMS Racing man missed out on a second podium finish of the year at Oulton Park after encountering mechanical problems in the final race of the weekend, and headed for North Yorkshire hoping to put a big haul of points on the board in the final meeting before the summer break.

Austin qualified inside the top ten at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo Giulietta but his hopes of a strong weekend would come to an end before he reached Clervaux for the first time – with contact from Josh Cook putting him into the gravel at turn one with damaged suspension.

Although he recovered to take a points finish in race two with 15th place from the back of the grid, engine issues in the final race of the weekend saw Austin forced to retire for the second time.

“We were quick in FP1 and FP2 but in qualifying we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, although to be disappointed with P10 on the grid shows where we’re aiming,” he said. “I made a mega start to race one, overtook Cook and he slammed into the back of me after trying to go three wide, I was fully past him and he took the ridiculous choice to lunge. That ruined our weekend really.

“I think we were on for a top seven at least in that race, but I wasn’t angry or anything – the feeling while I was standing in the gravel was sheer disappointment for the boys, who work so hard on the car, and our amazing sponsors who are so supportive. Race two was busy, there was a lot going on, and the car had really good pace. Realistically we aimed for the top 20, so the top 15 was fantastic.

“I’ve never, ever had bad luck like this during a season, it’s insane really. I was driven into at Brands, turned around at Donington, then we had the diff break at Oulton and here at Croft I was fired off at the first corner in race one. What’s most frustrating is we know the potential we have, we turned a corner at Oulton and we know we should be on the podium, not sitting in the gravel.”