New signing Rob Austin makes big impact for Handy on first weekend Best result in team’s BTCC history set-up by sensational Rd2 recoveryTeam confident of gains as season heads to Donington in two weeks
Handy Motorsport celebrated its best ever finish in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship during the final race of the opening event of the season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on Sunday, 3rd April, thanks to a hard-charging performance from new 2016 driver Rob Austin.
Overcoming set-up issues in qualifying and heavy contact in round one, which forced the No.11 Toyota Avensis into retirement, Austin scythed his way through the order in race two to gain no fewer than 16 places – expertly carving his way from 30th on the grid into 14th position at the flag.
With the round two result affording the 34-year-old an improved seventh row start for race three, Austin – using the Soft compound Dunlop tyres for the final contest – quickly climbed into the top 10 and enjoyed a great battle with the works Honda Civic of reigning champion Gordon Shedden and the works MG of Ashley Sutton before having to settle for 11th place on the last lap.
“Race two was obviously really good, from 30th to 14th wasn’t bad going and we had a bit of understeer to cope with too”, reflected Austin, “I was hoping to go forward a bit more in race three, we changed the car to look after the Softs but we didn’t quite go far enough. We showed we had the pace to fight with the works Hondas and MGs though which is obviously very good.
“Personally, the really positive thing to consider is when we did a bad job this weekend we were 15th in qualifying – last year in the Audi I was 15th when I did a good job. I’m really happy with the car, the team has done a fantastic job all weekend and now we need to make sure we get qualifying right at Donington.”
Free practice went smoothly for the Handy Motorsport squad on Saturday but hopes of a top 10 performance in qualifying didn’t materialise when the chosen set-up proved to be the wrong way to go, Austin ending the session 15th fastest.
Even so, the Pershore driver was only 0.5 seconds shy of pole position and with an overhaul of the set-up for raceday, the team taking a completely different direction with a variety of settings, round one couldn’t come soon enough. Frustratingly, though, Austin’s involvement came to an end just three laps in when his car was assaulted on two separate occasions.
Running in 14th place on the third tour, Austin was forced to pit after receiving a heavy hit to the left hand side of the car which caused significant damage to the bodywork and bent the exhaust which sapped power. Rejoining the race after the pit visit, Austin was then the victim of more contact along Cooper Straight which led to a return to the pits and retirement.
“Race one was my first start in front-wheel drive and my first lap in front-wheel drive, I was just trying to keep my lines tight and maintain my position but it puts you back in the pack and things can happen”, explained Austin.
“One car went into the side of me and folded-up the exhaust, we were in a straight line so I’ve no idea where he came from, and I’ve no idea what happened then in the second one. I was quite a long way down the back straight and just got an almighty wallop in the side. It’s a real shame as the car was mega and that had a knock-on then with the grid position for race two.”
Austin’s fully repaired Avensis lined-up 30th on the grid for round two, leaving a huge task ahead. Gaining three places on the opening lap, Austin grabbed three more positions on the second tour and prior to the appearance of the Safety Car on lap four he was up into 22nd spot.
After the re-start on lap six, progress was slightly harder to come by but the Handy driver continued to chip away and into the second half of the contest he was up into 18th position. Then, on lap 22, some fluid dropped at Graham Hill Bend caused chaos but Austin picked his way through into 16th place and then climbed into 14th with three laps to go.
Running tight behind the works Subaru of double BTCC Champion Jason Plato, Austin took the chequered flag on lap 26 a mere 0.2 seconds shy of Plato and also confirmed his clear pace with a best lap time only 0.3 seconds shy of the fastest of the race.
In round three, Austin swiftly climbed from 14th on the grid into 11th position on the first lap before the Safety Car made an early appearance. When racing resumed, Austin held 10th place as a result of Mat Jackson pitting and although edged back a spot soon after, he continued to race hard on the fringe of the top 10.
Seeking a way past Shedden’s Honda as the race entered its final third, Austin was delayed and slipped back to 13th but recovered back to 11th place inside a couple of laps. Closing up behind Sutton’s MG, Austin made the move on the penultimate tour to grab 10th position but Sutton went back past on the final lap at Paddock Hill Bend…as Austin was heeding yellow flags.
“It’s been a good weekend overall, races two and three were really good and Rob raced very well after the disappointment of the race one retirement”, said team principal Simon Belcher, “We’re all on a big learning curve, as a team we’re learning a lot and it’s Rob’s first season with the front-wheel drive. We’ll continue to just get better and better, this weekend has been a good start.”
Rounds four, five and six of the BTCC season will take place just a fortnight from now, over the weekend 16th/17th April, at Donington Park National Circuit in Leicestershire.
2016 BTCC Drivers Championship Standings:15th Rob Austin, 7pts
2016 Independents Trophy Standings:10th Rob Austin, 18pts
2016 HiQ Teams Championship Standings:12th Handy Motorsport, 7pts
2016 Independents Team Trophy Standings:8th Handy Motorsport, 10pts
