Rob Austin left Croft feeling frustrated with a lack of fortune, after being forced to retire from two of the three British Touring Car Championship races held in North Yorkshire.
The HMS Racing driver qualified his Alfa Romeo on the edge of the top ten on Saturday, but race day would see the tables turn.
Fired off the circuit at the first corner by Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook, Austin could only salvage 15th in race two from the back of the grid before an overheating issue in the final race curtailed his efforts.
“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”, said Austin.
“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.
“With us running the hard tyres in race three, I knew [Aiden] Moffat and the others on the primes would come back to me and that was just starting to happen when I lost all power.”
The Evesham racer was left to lament what could have been, as his run of poor form continues to leave him entering the mid-point of the season just 17th overall in the drivers’ championship standings.
“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.
“It’s been another weekend of frustration, but we are looking forward to the two-day Dunlop tyre test during the break as we have some things to try with the car to help us unlock our true pace.”