Rob Austin Racing Press Release
Worcestershire’s Rob Austin (Evesham) reckons he is in with a chance of podium results in Sunday’s three big Dunlop British Touring Car races after qualifying a strong 10th fastest at the British Formula 1 Grand Prix venue this afternoon.
The Exocet Racing star drew on all his experience in the session’s closing stages to set a best lap time of 58.891 seconds aboard his Audi A4 around Silverstone's short National track – just 0.380s off pole position.
“That is better than I anticipated,” declared Rob. “We were only able to use two sets of tyres in that session because of the set-up we were running.
“I’ve definitely set that time when the tyres were past their absolute best and it came down to a final tweak to the car’s set-up at my last pit stop and then going out and wringing its neck. I definitely deployed the Awesome Lever on that one.
“But the balance of the car now is good and if, as it seems, we’re able to look after our tyres well then that bodes very well for tomorrow’s three races. I’ll certainly wake up tomorrow morning sniffing a podium result or two in the air.”
Meanwhile Rob’s team-mate Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead) suffered a problematic qualifying session with his AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing Audi and he could set only the 28th fastest time out of the 31 runners.
Hunter said: “The general feel of the car is very good but there were still some problems we couldn’t solve that we’re sure are a legacy of the glitches (alternator and power steering) that we experienced in the earlier two free practice sessions. Without them I’m sure I could have been right with Rob on times.
“But I have total confidence the team will have everything sorted for tomorrow and we will come out fighting…”
Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing / Phil Laughton Photography
