Rob Austin praised the work of his team to get his car in shape for this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship meeting at Thruxton after repairing structural damage to the rear of his car.
The team owner and driver was hit in the final race of the day at Donington by Speedworks’ Tom Ingram from behind, forcing him to retire his Audi A4 from the race.
But while the damage was worse than Austin’s initial fears had suggested, the 33-year-old will be on track at the Hampshire circuit, and pledged to give his all to reward his mechanics’ efforts.
“The damage was worse than we first thought but the work that’s gone in since Donington has been unbelievable and yet again my crew have done the most remarkable job in the timeframe,” said Austin. “After the graft the lads have put in the least I can do now is go to Thruxton and drive the hell out of it.”
Austin nevertheless expects the weekend to be a challenging one, despite heading to a circuit that he enjoys as a driver.
“The speeds are incredibly high all the way round the lap – we’re nudging 150mph in some places with some of the corners taken at over 130mph. It requires massive balls as well as huge respect and that’s why I absolutely love it. It really sorts the men from the boys.
“I’ve gone well in everything else I’ve raced there but for some reason it remains a bogey circuit for our Audi in the BTCC. The rear-wheel-drive configuration we run seems to put us at a disadvantage there against the front-wheel-drive cars which make up the vast majority of the grid (30-plus cars) so it could be a bit of a damage-limitation exercise.