BTCC: 'Traffic' thwarts Austin & Abbott in Brands Hatch BTCC qualifying‏

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Rob Austin Racing duo Rob Austin (Evesham) and Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead) both say traffic cost them their chance of qualifying inside the top ten on the grid for the opening race of the new Dunlop British Touring Car season at Brands Hatch tomorrow (Easter Sunday).

Both Exocet AlcoSense Audis – the most striking looking cars on the grid – had shown well in the two earlier practice sessions but Rob and Hunter then found themselves repeatedly held up by slower cars in qualifying and they had to settle for the 13th and 16th fastest times respectively.

Rob (13th) commented: “I’d gone into the session thinking P10 would have been a bad day. OK, we were never going to challenge for pole but I am still really frustrated – both of us could and should have been in the top 10. The traffic early on in particular was really bad and one driver in particular… really special.

“I’d definitely say with a clear lap I’d have been two to three tenths of a second faster which would have put me around P7 or P8. The big positive is the pace of the car over a long run on the same set of tyres – it just keeps getting better and better which bodes very well for our race pace.

“Each driver will also have to be conscious of the fact that it will be your fastest lap time in race one – not the finishing result – that will decide the grid order for race two. Last year here I was one of the top three on race pace so hopefully we can have more of that tomorrow.”

Hunter, just 0.069s adrift of Rob in 16th, added: “The top 10 was definitely on and it was just the traffic that held me back. My best lap was set with traffic and also I had a big sideways moment going left through the Surtees-McLaren section which cost me as well.

“But Rob is right. We’ve seen in practice and even qualifying how strong the Audi is when it comes to using its tyres over a long run. We need to exploit that tomorrow but we both really need the cards to fall for us in the opening laps to enable us to do that.”

All three of tomorrow’s British Touring Car races will be shown live on ITV4 which is on air from Brands Hatch 10.30am-6.30pm.

Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing

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BTCC: Re-engineered RAR Audis make 2015 track debut

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

• Drivers Rob Austin & Hunter Abbott in action at Brands Hatch

Rob Austin Racing drivers Rob Austin (Evesham) and Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead) are keeping quiet about their chances in this year’s Dunlop British Touring Car Championship after completing their first two days of testing of 2015.

Rob’s and Hunter’s Audi A4s – both in plain black livery – collectively racked up more than 300 laps of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent which will host the BTCC’s opening three races of the new season in front of a huge trackside crowd and live ITV4 cameras on the weekend of Sat 4/Sun 5 April.

Currently the cars are being re-fettled at RAR's Pershore base ahead of more testing during next Tuesday’s (24 March) high-profile BTCC Media Day launch at Donington Park, Leics.
Rob said: “During the winter break we’ve developed some aesthetic changes which people will finally get to see on Media Day, but we have also re-engineered certain areas of the cars under the skin as well as restructuring our staffing and engineering team. Brands Hatch was our first chance to see it all come together.

“I was very happy with the two days, the team worked brilliantly and the cars ran faultlessly! We have a competitive car at Brands anyway and we have managed to improve it again as well as working to develop a very different set-up which we believe will bring us to the front at the circuits that we have historically struggled at.

“The new set-up requires further development which we will continue to work on at the Donington Media day. However progress so far has exceeded expectations which is exciting.”

Hunter added: “A lot of the changes for 2015 are fundamental and demonstrate a completely new philosophy on the dynamics of the vehicle. There’s more we can unlock from the Audi but it required a re-think. Sometimes to make a leap forward you have to take a step backwards and as a result we need to find our baseline set-up again.

“The two days at Brands Hatch were very productive. Rob and I tried very different things over the course of the two days to cover as many variables as possible in the time-frame we had. Next week at Donington we’ll take the best of what we found across both cars at Brands and start to converge them, working towards proving the new concept.”

Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing

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BTCC: First test of 2015 for Rob Austin Racing at Brands Hatch

By Johan Laubscher

Rob Austin Racing was out testing at Brands Hatch this week. Both of the team’s Audi A4 cars joined a number of other British Touring Car Championship teams at the circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This was the first test session for Rob Austin Racing this year. Rob Austin and Hunter Abbott piloted the two all-black Audi A4 NGTC specification touring cars, affectionately nicknamed Sherman and Panzer.

It was a productive test for the Rob Austin Racing squad and they will now continue with their preparations for the 2015 season.

The BTCC media day will be taking place at Donington Park on 24 March, followed by Brands Hatch hosting the season opening round from 4-5 April.

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography

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BTCC: "We can hold our heads high" says Austin after tough finale

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Worcestershire team Rob Austin Racing will not remember its final day of the 2014 Dunlop British Touring Car season with fondness but can go into the winter break proud of its achievements during the year and having yet again demonstrated the fighting spirit that has endeared it so many thousands of trackside and TV fans.

Drivers Rob Austin (Evesham) and Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead) both suffered severe damage to their Audi A4s in a first corner pile-up in the first of three races on Sunday around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

But Thanks to a miraculous repair job from his crew inside just 90 minutes Rob’s Exocet Racing car ‘Sherman’ was able to take the start for race 2 and was joined in race 3 by Hunter’s AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing machine ‘Panzer’. The team’s efforts did not go unnoticed with huge applause around the circuit from an appreciative, near sell-out trackside crowd as the cars left the pit lane for the start.

Rob was able to finish 15th in race 3 for a championship point. He finishes 12th in the drivers’ standings in a season which brought him and the team their second BTCC race win as well as three more podium results. Hunter finishes his maiden BTCC season 20th out of 32 competitors with a pair of impressive top ten race results to show.

Team principal Rob commented: “Sure Brands Hatch hasn’t gone to plan but what the team has shown yet again is an incredible fighting spirit to beat the odds and fix both cars so they could race again. The accident in race 1 left me wondering if either car would come out to play again but my team simply do not know when they are beaten – most teams would have called it a day but not us. What they did was incredible.

“It has been a season of highs and lows – the highlight of course being the win at Rockingham – but we’ve really held our own against bigger budget opposition in what has now grown into one of the three most competitive motor racing championships in the world alongside Formula 1 and NASCAR.

“An awful lot of that is also down to our fantastic sponsors Exocet, DUO and AlcoSense as well as all our equally enthusiastic partners and all the public who have joined our Owners Club. Their passion really keeps us going and I cannot thank them enough. Everybody can really hold their heads high.

“From here we will go back to base in Pershore, rebuild both cars and then, for the first time thanks to our sponsors, look towards a proper winter testing programme to make sure we come back in 2015 even stronger and faster. I can’t wait for it to begin all over again.”

Hunter said: “My first season in the BTCC has been a real baptism of fire, but I have to say that I have never enjoyed a season of motor racing as much in my life. I very much intend being back with Rob Austin Racing in 2015 and I am very much looking forward to all the planning and testing we have lined up in the winter months.

“There’s no other team I’d want to be with and I know from what is happening behind the scenes that we can be very competitive every time out next year. Like Rob, I have to thank the terrific team of people who work on my car – they have really been put through the ringer at times this season but every time have come out on top, refusing to be beaten.

“I’ve had to learn a whole new racecraft which is required in touring cars and there have been some desperately unlucky moments which haven’t reflected our true form, but I believe everything is in place for a really big year for Rob Austin Racing when we come back in early April.”

Rob Austin Racing would like to congratulate Colin Turkington and WSR/eBay Motors for winning the BTCC title at Brands Hatch.

Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing / Phil Laughton Photography

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BTCC: Austin optimistic for Snetterton BTCC race day after qualifying‏

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Worcestershire’s Rob Austin (Evesham) is confident of strong performances in all three Dunlop British Touring Car races at Snetterton tomorrow after setting the 13th fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Norfolk circuit.

Rob's Exocet Racing Audi – run by his privately-entered Rob Austin Racing team – ended the session right behind two cars run by the factory Honda and MG outfits. Thirteenth means he will line up on the inside of the seventh row of the grid for the first of Sunday’s races which will significantly also mark the 100th race in Britain’s premier motor racing championship for his Pershore-based squad.

Rob predicted: “It always comes back to us in race trim and I genuinely sense we have an opportunity to make a good number of places and come away with some really good points tomorrow. Same old same old in qualifying – the rear-wheel-drive Audi can’t match the front-wheel-drive cars on single-lap qualifying pace and that leaves us having to overtake people in the races, but that’s what I love doing and what I’ll be aiming to do in front of the fans tomorrow.

“Qualifying was so-so… nothing too spectacular. We’ve been suffering with understeer which is hurting our mid-corner speed. Hopefully we can make some further tweaks to cure that for tomorrow, plus in a race situation things get very bunched with people tripping over one another. I need to make sure I’m in the right place at the right time to capitalise when my moment comes.

“I’d really like to come away from Snetterton back in the top ten in the championship particularly as we have two really good circuits for the Audi – Knockhill and Rockingham – next up.”

Meanwhile Rob’s team-mate Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead) has significantly more work to do after qualifying 26th overall in his AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing Audi which stopped at the end of the session with an electrical problem.

Hunter commented: “We’re at a bit of a loss really with the lack of pace but, as Rob says, I know things will be better for us in a race situation. I showed at Croft last time out I can pick people off at the starts and keep on making up places. I definitely need some more of that tomorrow.”

See how both Rob Austin Racing Audis do at Snetterton tomorrow with seven hours of live TV coverage of the event (11.00am-6.00pm) on the ITV4 channel.

Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing

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BTCC: Rob Austin Racing to celebrate 100 BTCC races at Snetterton‏

Rob Austin Press Release

• Drivers Rob Austin & Hunter Abbott chasing big results as touring car season resumes

Norfolk’s winding Snetterton 300 circuit this weekend (Sat 2/Sun 3 August) marks the return to Dunlop British Touring Car action for Worcestershire team Rob Austin Racing and hopes are high of strong results in all three races for drivers Rob Austin (Evesham) and the newly-wed Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead) as the squad celebrates its landmark 100th race in Britain’s premier motor racing championship.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
For Rob there is unfinished business at Snetterton and it’s clear he’d also like to reward his hard-working crew of mechanics who at RAR’s Pershore base have brilliantly restored his Exocet Racing Audi ‘Sherman’ which left Croft’s recent three BTCC races in somewhat battered condition.

He comments: “I made a mess of Snetterton 12 months ago and felt that I had let everyone down. This time I am determined to put that right and make sure we go on a run of three very strong race events in a row – Snetterton, Knockhill and Rockingham. Above all I want to do it for my boys who’ve done a terrific rebuild job but of course all our great sponsors and fans too who again have given us nothing but tremendous support all the way.

“Snetterton isn’t our absolute strongest circuit but we have a great chassis and a great engine so it has the potential to be very good still. And while we lack a little in a straight line compared to the manufacturer cars we make up for that with determination so I think podium results could be on the cards if we get a good run at it.”

BE (MORE) AGGRESSIVE
Rob has also had some choice words for some of his rivals in the run-up to Snetterton, adding: “I have been knocked around a lot this season, the victim of other drivers’ poor driving. But I believe that within reason you make your own luck so I have been analysing the incidents we have been involved in.

“The only way I can see to stop it happening is to be more aggressive! I pride myself on being a clean and fair racer so it’s not how I like to race, but in relying on other competitors to give me racing room and trying to avoid contact people seem to be taking that as an open invitation to cause an incident and blame me and that’s got to change.”

CENTURY AT SNETTERTON
As for having guided his team to 100 touring car races – the landmark will be achieved in the first of Snetterton’s three races on Sunday – Rob says: “Let’s get to 100 first! Then I’ll have a think about it. But it’s fair to say that the difference comparing where we are now to where we were when we first arrived in touring cars in 2011 is immense in every aspect. Let’s hope we have a nice result to talk about…”

Rob concludes: “From a driver’s point of view I preferred the old Snetterton track as it was much faster and flowed better. However, although we do less laps per race on the 300 track the fans these days get a much better view of the action particularly through the twisting infield section – and it is always the fans who are the most important people at BTCC events. The camping atmosphere at Snetterton is also really special. I went to watch the bands play last year and couldn’t believe how big the campsite was – it was a fun evening and it’ll be bigger and even better this time.”

Timetable: Rob Austin Racing, Snetterton, Sat 2 / Sun 3 August
Saturday: 9.25am Free Practice Session 1 (40mins); Midday Free Practice Session 2 (40mins); 3.20pm Qualifying (30mins)
Sunday: Midday BTCC Race 1; 1.05pm-1.35pm Pit Lane Autograph Session; 2.35pm BTCC Race 2; 4.55pm BTCC Race 3 (all races 12 laps/35.88 miles)

Photo credit: BTCC

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BTCC: Austin "Gutted" with Croft results as Abbott shines with top form

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Worcestershire’s British Touring Car team Rob Austin Racing leaves Croft Circuit tonight licking its wounds after a robust three races at the North Yorkshire track in which Rob Austin was denied a chance to show his fighting form near the front, although there were two breakthrough results for rookie team-mate Hunter Abbott (see sidebar).

Rob started the opening race from a strong10th position on the grid in his Exocet Racing Audi but within just two corners had been spun round by a rival driver. He rejoined in 22nd place and produced a stunning comeback drive to cross the line in 13th – three positions behind Hunter who enjoyed his best result to date by far in the BTCC with an excellent 10th in his AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing machine having started from 17th.

Significantly the lap times of both RAR-prepared Audis suggested they were among the six fastest cars on track and indeed were untouchable through the third sector of the lap.

Race 2 for Rob was cruelly over within seconds after his Audi was squeezed by two slower starting cars ahead of him – contact sending his car spinning off the track with broken suspension. Hunter held 11th position for much of the race and again set top six lap times but was to retire with damaged steering.

This meant unrepresentative starting positions of 26th and 28th for Hunter and Rob in race 3. Hunter would go on to take a fine 11th place result after passing eight rivals on the opening lap alone before making up another six spots before the chequered flag – his fastest lap time matching that of double champion Jason Plato’s factory MG in 10th. But the anticipated charging drive through the pack from Rob sadly never materialised after contact from the factory Honda of triple champion Matt Neal sent him spinning into a barrier and retirement.

Rob commented: “I’m absolutely gutted, particularly as we clearly had the potential to be right up there pushing for podium results – the pace of the cars when we were running smoothly has been stunning. I was really happy with my comeback drive in race 1 but unfortunately my day has been ruined by a couple of drivers simply wiping me out. But I’m delighted for Hunter – we’ve said all along how fast we know he is and today he’s driven really well. He thoroughly deserves his results and I’m sure he’ll build on this and we’ll see a lot more of the same from him in the season’s second half.

“Above all I have to applaud my team’s mechanics. I dropped the ball in practice yesterday and crashed which left them with a big job to have the car ready for qualifying which they did. Then there’s been damage in every race today but every time – and under massive pressure – they’ve worked miracles to have the car ready again and deserved a lot more to show for their incredible work. It’s been immense and I’ll be buying them a few rounds of drinks at least to say thank you.”

He added: “At least we now have the six-week break to repair the car before the season resumes in early August. I predict we will come back very strong and be able to put together a really good run of results at Snetterton, Knockhill and Rockingham. We never give up.”

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography

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BTCC: Mixed emotions for Austin, Abbott in Croft BTCC qualifying

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Austin brands his race mechanics 'A Team of the BTCC' after rescue effort

Worcestershire’s Rob Austin has heaped praise on his race team after a Herculean effort to repair his crashed Exocet Racing Audi in just two hours enabled him to set the tenth fastest time in this afternoon’s Dunlop British Touring Car qualifying session at North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit. There was also a best qualifying result to date for Rob’s rookie team-mate Hunter Abbott, 17th in his AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing Audi, although both drivers later admitted to being frustrated with their personal performances.

Rob suffered a 5G side-on impact with the barriers when he lost control of his Audi ‘Sherman’ at the Clervaux bend in the second of this morning’s two practice sessions. It meant the Rob Austin Racing crew was faced with a race against time to ready the car for qualifying but miraculously they managed it. Even the passenger door window from team engineer James Weaver’s Audi A4 road car was ‘borrowed’ to help complete the job.

“They are the A Team of the BTCC pit lane!” commented Rob from Evesham. “I made a right mess of things and they put it right. The workload they got through – grinding, fabricating, rebuilding – under great pressure was immense.

“Sherman might have looked a little worse for wear from the outside on track but everything underneath – including crucially the handling – was spot on. An awesome job. If I’d not let the side down in practice then we’d have had time to experiment more with the set-up and perhaps should have been looking at a top three on the grid. Given the situation tenth is a good result but I’m miffed because it should have been better and that’s down to me.

“As it is I’m only half a second off P3 and I know, as ever, that our race pace tomorrow will be better than our qualifying pace compared to our rivals. I’m going for big results in all three races.”

For Hunter it was also a case of what might have been, the Maidenhead driver feeling he missed out on an opportunity to qualify inside the top 12.

“Three more tenths of a second faster and I’d have been there – it’s that close,” he reflected. “The frustrating thing is I know where it was possible to find that time but I drove a bit scrappily and at one corner, where I should have been braking later, my right foot just wouldn't do it! Still it’s my best qualifying position to date in the BTCC and I’m in with a very classy group of drivers around me which I hope means I can have a good clean first race. Then we’ll just take it from there…”

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography

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PHOTOS: Rob Austin crashed the Audi A4 at Croft in BTCC

The British Touring Car Championship is at Croft this weekend for the fifth meeting of the season.

Earlier today Rob Austin hit the barriers with his #101 Audi A4 NGTC in the practice session. Luckily Rob Austin is OK and his team Rob Austin Racing was able to repair the car making it ready for qualifying.

Please note all the photos in this topic belong to BTCC and are hosted in their official Facebook page right here.

Photo credit: BTCC

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BTCC: Austin celebrates podium form at Oulton Park

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Worcestershire’s Rob Austin returned to the Dunlop British Touring Car podium this afternoon with a superb second place result at Cheshire’s Oulton Park circuit that has helped to move him back into the top ten in the championship standings.

Rob’s podium finish aboard his Exocet Racing Audi came in the second of the day’s three races – shown live on ITV4 and watched by an estimated 40,000 trackside crowd. He coolly dealt with intense pressure from the following factory MG of double champion Jason Plato to cross the line in third place. But officials later made Rob the runner-up after judging that Robert Collard (BMW) had re-passed him for second during a safety car period – forbidden by the rules.

Fifth place in both races 1 and 3 – off the back of a season’s best qualifying performance of sixth on Saturday – all added up to a large haul of championship points and both Rob’s and the team’s most competitive outing to date in 2014. Rob leaves Oulton tonight an impressive 10th in the drivers’ points table.

Rob, from Evesham, commented: “It’s been an awesome weekend for the team and all our great sponsors and fans. The pace has been there in both wet and dry conditions and we’re right back where we belong – right towards the front – and that is against some world class opposition.

“Race 1 was pretty lonely for me and race 3 was all about not dropping it in very difficult conditions. Race 2 of course has been our big highlight. Holding off Jason was key but boy did he put me through the ringer! Collard then slowed too early before we got to the safety car signals so I was straight past – when he re-overtook me after we’d past the first signal I knew he’d be penalised but I still had Jason to deal with when the race re-started. The chequered flag was a welcome sight.

“But perhaps an even bigger high than when I crossed the line was the reaction from the crowd around the podium. I was blown away by how many people there were and the noise they made for us. It’s been a fantastic day and Croft, which is next up in three weeks, is another strong circuit for the Audi…”

Meanwhile it was a tough weekend for Rob’s team-mate Hunter Abbott in his AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing Audi. Problems with his car in Saturday’s practice sessions cost him valuable track time and he qualified an unrepresentative 24th. He finished race 1 in the same position after a spin, then rose to 16th in race 2 with some deft overtaking moves, but retired from race 3 with a damaged car after contact from a rival sent him spinning into the barriers.

Hunter, from Maidenhead, reflected: “The problems in practice have had a big knock-on effect on my race weekend so I really don’t think today reflects the pace that is there, although I was able to show a glimpse of how good things could have been in race 2. Race 3 I didn’t stand a chance – two cars near me collided and one of them piled into the side of my car. It’s frustrating as I believe there was an opportunity for a top ten in qualifying and in a couple of the races as well. But it’s important to look at the bigger picture and I’m sure at Croft we will have a much better time of it.”

Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing

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BTCC: Austin returns to front-running form in Oulton Park qualifying

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Worcestershire’s Rob Austin set the sixth fastest time in this afternoon’s Dunlop British Touring Car Championship qualifying session at Cheshire’s Oulton Park to give him and his eponymous Rob Austin Racing team their best starting grid position of the season so far.

The session ended in frenzied fashion as 30 drivers attempted to improve their time on a rapidly drying track. Rob, who had been on the front-running pace in both the two earlier wet practice sessions, timed it perfectly to secure a superb third row starting position on the grid for the first of tomorrow’s three races in his Exocet Racing Audi A4.

But there was bitter gall for team-mate Hunter Abbott (Maidenhead). He had been looking to challenge for a top ten place but a spin on his crucial final flying lap ruined his chances and as others carried on and improved he tumbled to 24th. It will be fascinating to see how much progress Hunter can make tomorrow in his AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing Audi.

Rob, from Evesham, commented: “It really came down to that one big pressure lap so I just punched my awesome button and went for it! I actually got held up a bit by another car and almost aborted that lap but am glad I didn’t – I reckon without that delay I’d have been another four tenths of a second quicker.

“After two tough events at Donington and Thruxton we’re back where we belong and this gives everyone in the team a big lift. We’ve said all along we would be much stronger here and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow – I’m in with drivers who know how to race very hard but fair and that always makes a difference, plus our race form is always better than our qualifying form. Fingers crossed we’re going to be in for very competitive results in all three races.”

Hunter said: “I want to forget today. We had a couple of problems with the car in the two earlier practice sessions and then this happens in qualifying when I know a top ten was on. The plan was to follow Rob and both go for a fast time together. Coming into Cascades I just asked a bit too much of the rear end went into a big double 360 spin off the track. I had to wait an age before rejoining safely and by then it was too late to go for another lap.

“All I can do tomorrow is get my head down, keep clear of the inevitable mid-pack trouble and pick my way through for a decent grid position for race two and then we’ll see how it progresses from there. Today's a setback but I'm still optimistic we can salvage something decent from tomorrow."

Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing

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BTCC: Rob Austin Audi qualified sixth at Oulton Park

By Tarek Ramchani

Oulton Park is playing host to the fourth round of the 2014 British Touring Car Championship

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BTCC: The Audi teams heading to Oulton Park

By Tarek Ramchani

The British Touring Car Championship is heading to the popular Oulton Park

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BTCC: Rob Austin Racing in rush to make Thruxton BTCC

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

• Team has worked flat out to be ready for UK's fastest race track

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BTCC: Day of despair at Donington Park for Rob Austin Racing

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

It never rains but it pours goes the saying and it was wet weather conditions today that played a major role in one of the toughest experiences yet for the Rob Austin Racing team in the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship.

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BTCC: And so on to Donington... for Rob Austin Racing

Rob Austin Racing Press Release

Worcestershire’s Rob Austin Racing team resumes its 2014 Dunlop British Touring Car season this Easter Sunday (20 April) in rounds four, five and six of the 2014 championship at the famous Donington Park circuit.

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