Rob Austin Racing drivers frustrated with qualifying traffic

The two Rob Austin Racing drivers say they were unable to perform at their best in qualifying as they battled with traffic, which they believe cost them a top ten starting position.

The pair of Audi A4s had looked solid in the first two practice sessions, with both drivers enjoying places in the top ten. However, in the qualifying session, slower cars hindered their performance, leaving Rob Austin to qualify 13th and Hunter Abbott having to settle for 16th.

“I’d gone into the session thinking P10 would have been a bad day,” said Austin. “OK, we were never going to challenge for pole but I am still really frustrated – both of us could and should have been in the top 10. The traffic early on in particular was really bad and one driver in particular… really special.

“Each driver will also have to be conscious of the fact that it will be your fastest lap time in race one – not the finishing result – that will decide the grid order for race two. Last year here I was one of the top three on race pace so hopefully we can have more of that tomorrow.”

Abbott will start three positions behind his team boss, but was only 0.069 seconds behind Austin on the time sheets, and only half a second off the top spot of the grid, showing just how competitive the BTCC is once again.

“The top 10 was definitely on and it was just the traffic that held me back,” Abbott said. “My best lap was set with traffic and also I had a big sideways moment going left through the Surtees-McLaren section which cost me as well. But Rob is right, we’ve seen in practice and even qualifying how strong the Audi is when it comes to using its tyres over a long run. We need to exploit that tomorrow but we both really need the cards to fall for us in the opening laps to enable us to do that.”