| Rob Austin | |
|---|---|
 Austin at theBrands Hatch Indy round of the2012 British Touring Car Championship season. | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | (1981-02-01)1 February 1981 (age 44) Evesham, Worcestershire,England, UK |
| British Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | Power Maxed Car Care Racing |
| Car number | 11 |
| Former teams | Rob Austin Racing,DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing |
| Starts | 229 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 4 |
| Best finish | 11th in2013,2017 |
| Previous series | |
| 2012 2010 2008–2009 2008 2007 2005 2000–2004 | VW Cup Grand Prix Masters Ginetta G50 Cup British GT SEAT Cupra Championship Formula Three Euroseries British Formula 3 |
Robert Christopher Austin (born 1 February 1981) is a Britishracing driver who formerly competed in theBritish Touring Car Championship. He was born inEvesham, Worcestershire.
His career started inBritish Formula Renault in 1998, where he raced until 1999. An accident put him out of racing for the 2000 season, but he returned inBritish Formula 3 forAlain Menu's team in 2001, where he raced until 2004. He also hasJapanese Formula Three experience (2003).
Austin entered theBritish GT Championship in2008 with a brand newGinetta G50 GT4 under the Rob Austin Racing banner.[1] He drove alongsideHunter Abbott although they missed the first event atOulton Park when Abbott crashed and destroyed the car. They took the first of three GT4 victories in the third race of the season atKnockhill having taken delivery of a new car.[2] The pair finished the season joint third in the GT4 standings after finishing on the podium at every race they finished, except for their disqualification atThruxton.
In 2011, Austin took over the driving duties fromDavid Pinkney in theBritish Touring Car Championship due to Pinkney's departure from the team after the first round. He competed in aNGTC specificationAudi A4 for his own team.[3] Austin qualified a career best fourth at Knockhill but retired in the first race.[4] He took his maiden podium finish in the third race atRockingham, ending up second behindJames Nash.[5] He completed the season in 16th place with one podium finish and one fastest lap.
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Rob Austin Racing signed Mark Hazell to drive the team's Audi A4 for the start of the 2012 season, but Austin was the only entry for the season opener atBrands Hatch Indy.[6] He finished eighth in the first race of the season and finished fifth in the following two races. Hazell left the team after Brands Hatch, leaving Austin as the team's only driver forDonington Park and Thruxton. Austin sat out the meeting atOulton Park while series debutant and2009Euroseries 3000 championWill Bratt was the team's sole entrant at the Cheshire venue.[7] He returned to the car for the next race atCroft, taking his second podium finish in race two.[8] He was unable to find the budget to race at Knockhill, forcing him to miss the event but he returned to the car at Rockingham.[9] He was disqualified from the third race atSilverstone after colliding withDaniel Welch on lap three while fighting for second place.[10] Austin secured a title sponsor for the season finale at Brands Hatch, his car would carry a specialNASCAR inspired livery for Wix Filters.[11]
Austin confirmed his return in2013 with the team running under the WIX Filters banner.[12] Austin led early on in the first race of the season at Brands Hatch, he was then passed byJason Plato and eventually finished third behindAndrew Jordan. He retired from the following two races, in race three he was collected byDave Newsham who had spun and Austin had a high speed collision with the barriers before coming to a rest in the middle of the track.[13] He took his first pole position in the BTCC at the Knockhill round.[14] He took his first outright win at the next event at Rockingham; he took victory in race two ahead ofGordon Shedden.[15] After that he only scored 11 more points for the rest of the year, finishing 11th in the standings.
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Austin returned for the2014 season. Exocet took over title sponsorship after the departure of WIX Filters. WIX then continued their BTCC tenure with Adam Morgan and his family run team 'Ciceley Racing'.[16]
In March 2014Hunter Abbott signed for Rob Austin Racing to run in a second Audi A4 in the2014 season under theAlcoSense Racing Banner.[17]
Austin appeared in theRon Howard filmRush (2013), portrayingBrett Lunger and driving hisSurtees TS19, which is owned by his father for racing in historic events.[18]
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(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Team Midland Euroseries | Dallara F305/001 | Toyota | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | PAU 1 | PAU 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | MON 1 | MON 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | ZAN 1 12 | ZAN 2 Ret | LAU 1 21 | LAU 2 Ret | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position in class) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap in class)
| Year | Entrant | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Rob Austin Racing | Ginetta G50 | GT4 | OUL 1 DNS | OUL 2 DNS | KNO 1 9 | KNO 2 Ret | ROC 1 14 | ROC 2 10 | SNE 1 16 | SNE 2 15 | THR 1 14 | THR 2 DSQ | BRH 1 12 | BRH 2 11 | SIL 1 7 | DON 1 11 | 2nd | 80 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point given)