Rob Austin Press Release
Rob Austin was an excellent sixth fastest outright in Dunlop British Touring Car qualifying at Fife’s Knockhill circuit this afternoon although team-mate Hunter Abbott was a frustrated 21st, albeit just seven tenths of a second away from the pole position time.
Rob was in the top ten throughout in his Exocet AlcoSense Audi A4. But with effectively his final lap of the session he produced a lap time of 51.979 seconds – his fastest ever around the twisting 1.2-mile circuit – to give himself a third row starting position on the grid for the first of tomorrow’s three races.
He said: “I’m very happy with that and I don’t believe it was the best lap I could have done either. We’ve opted to run the soft compound tyre in race one which could be very good for us if it stays dry as it’s a driver’s fastest lap in race one that decides their starting position for the race two grid.
“We’ve also found in the two earlier free practice sessions we’re able to turn in consistently fast laps so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Hunter, who is on stand-by to fly back home to Maidenhead in case expectant wife Susie goes into labour, added: “That was a frustrating session for me for a number of reasons and when I was perhaps on for my absolute best another car came out of the pit lane and delayed me.
“Also my best lap on the timesheets is 52.437s but we maybe need to look at some data as our best time was disallowed for exceeding track limits – just so we know for certain that the correct lap has been disallowed. Particularly because the times are so close – it could make the difference between P21 or P15. As for tomorrow we know we have excellent pace over a long distance with the tyres so we’ve got everything to fight for.”
Photo credit: Rob Austin Racing
