Rob Austin after Brands incidents: “It’s a crushing blow”

Rob Austin looked set for a strong weekend in the BTCC season premiere at Brands Hatch but left with two retired races.
“It’s a crushing blow. After the incredible effort everyone in my team has put in to get to where we are, we did not deserve to have our day end like this,” said Austin.

The Audi driver had a controversial collision with Toyota driver Frank Wrathall in the second race.
“The incident with Frank in race two…he’s an old friend so I find what he did to be very disappointing, although I’ve accepted his apology,” said Austin.

The final blow came in the third race when he collected a spinning Dave Newsham, hitting the barriers on the exit of Paddock Hill bend.
“The car is a mess but underneath it’s not as bad as it looks – some of the team wanted to come into the workshop tomorrow to get started on fixing it but I’ve insisted they take the day off after all the work they’ve put in. Then it’ll be all hands on deck restoring it for the next event at Donington Park in three weeks,” said Austin.

While retiring from two of the three races, the first saw Austin scoring a podium with third position after a rocket start from seventh on the grid and the Rob Austin Racing team is optimistic for the remainder of the season.
“The car has felt fantastic all day and we’ve more than proved we can take it to the bigger teams on only a fraction of their budgets. Our result in that first race proved it and I have to say that start was possibly the best of my career. To be the first team and driver to lead a lap of the new BTCC season is a bit of an honour. I’d like to thank WIX and all our guests who’ve made it such a positive weekend along with all the fans who’ve been in touch with all their support. The buzz in our team is incredible and we really can’t wait to get to Donington and go for some more big results,” said Austin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SctmyY5tkrc