Rob Austin delighted with “brilliant” qualifying performance

Rob Austin said his Audi A4 felt “painted to the road” as he secured a superb third on the grid in qualifying at Rockingham Motor Speedway.

The popular Rob Austin Racing team owner took his maiden pole at Knockhill two weeks ago, and for some time looked like he would follow that up in Northamptonshire, as he topped the times on a 1.22.588 mid-way through yesterday’s session.

He proved the lap was no fluke by following it up with another just one thousandth of a second slower, but in the end, the Triple Eight MG pair of Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff managed to topple Austin in the final stages of the session.

Austin said: “Just brilliant! We know on paper this should be a good circuit for the rear-wheel-drive Audi and, after experimenting in the practice sessions, we knew a top six was possible – Sherman felt painted to the road and third is even better than expected.

“Again let’s put things into perspective – we’re leading the fight against teams operating on budgets far superior to ours so this result is again testament to all the hard work done back at base and behind the scenes.

“It shows what a great team spirit we have, and a lot of that is down to our fans and their unrivalled support for what we are doing.”

Austin said he was looking forward to today’s races, even with the threat of rain.

He said: “The weather forecast is a bit unpredictable for Sunday. Yes, I’d prefer it if it stayed dry but luckily in Jason and Sam and Andrew Jordan, who’s next up on the grid, I know I’m dealing with drivers who race hard but fair. So it should be very entertaining and exciting for the crowds.”