Rob Austin
Robert Austin | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 1, 1981 Evesham, Worcestershire, England |
| Occupation | Racing driver |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Known for | British Touring Car Championship competitor |
Robert Christopher Austin (born 1 February 1981) is a British racing driver who has participated in the British Touring Car Championship. His birthplace is Evesham, Worcestershire.
Formula 3
Austin started his motorsport journey in British Formula Renault during 1998 and 1999. After sitting out the 2000 season due to injury, he competed in the British Formula 3 Championship with Alain Menu's squad from 2001 through 2004. Additionally, he took part in the All-Japan Formula Three series in 2003.
British GT Championship
In the 2008 campaign, Austin joined the British GT Championship driving a new Ginetta G50 GT4 for Rob Austin Racing. Alongside teammate Hunter Abbott, they missed the opening event following an accident but went on to achieve three victories in the GT4 class, including a win at Knockhill after upgrading to a new vehicle. The pair concluded the season tied for third place in the GT4 standings, consistently finishing on the podium except for a disqualification at Thruxton.
British Touring Car Championship
Austin stepped into the British Touring Car Championship in 2011, taking over from David Pinkney behind the wheel of an NGTC-spec Audi A4 entered by his own team. He attained a personal best qualifying position of fourth at Knockhill and earned his first podium finish with second place at Rockingham, ultimately ending the year 16th overall with one podium and fastest lap.
For the 2012 season, Rob Austin Racing signed Mark Hazell to pilot a second Audi A4; however, Austin was the only driver present at the season opener. He consistently placed within the top eight until Hazell's exit left him as the sole competitor. Will Bratt briefly substituted for Austin at Oulton Park. Austin secured a second podium at Croft but was absent from Knockhill due to financial limitations. He faced disqualification from Silverstone's third race following a collision. At the Brands Hatch finale, Austin obtained title sponsorship from Wix Filters, showcasing a NASCAR-inspired paint scheme.
Austin confirmed his return for 2013 with Rob Austin Racing under the WIX Filters banner. He led early at Brands Hatch and finished third but retired from subsequent races after a high-speed crash. At Knockhill, he earned his first BTCC pole position and celebrated his inaugural race victory at Rockingham. Despite this success, he collected only eleven additional points throughout the season, finishing eleventh overall.
In 2014, Exocet assumed title sponsorship after WIX Filters departed to back Adam Morgan's Ciceley Racing effort. Hunter Abbott joined Rob Austin Racing to drive a second Audi A4 under the AlcoSense Racing banner for that year.
Other activities
Austin appeared in Ron Howard's film Rush (2013), portraying Brett Lunger and driving his father's Surtees TS19, which is utilized in historic racing events.
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | British Formula 3 Championship | Carlin Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2001 | British Formula 3 Championship | Alain Menu Racing | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 19th |
| 2002 | British Formula 3 Championship | Menu F3 Motorsport | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 9th |
| 2003 | British Formula 3 Championship | Menu F3 Motorsport | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 110 | 7th |
| 2004 | British Formula 3 Championship | Menu F3 Motorsport | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 16th |
| 2005 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Team Midland Euroseries | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2007 | SEAT Cupra Great Britain R class | Startline Services | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 60 | 8th |
| Ginetta Championship | Rob Austin Racing | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 168 | 11th | |
| 2008 | British GT Championship - GT4 | Rob Austin Racing | 14 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 80 | 2nd |
| Ginetta G50 Cup | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 132 | 14th | ||
| 2009 | Ginetta G50 Cup | Rob Austin Racing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 19th |
| 2010 | Grand Prix Masters | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | N/A | N/A | |
| 2011 | British Touring Car Championship | Rob Austin Racing | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 16th |
British Touring Car Championship | Rob Austin Racing | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 122 | 13th | - | Historic Grand Prix of Monaco - Series F | Surtees | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 9th | - | 2013 | British Touring Car Championship | WIX Racing | 29 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 154 | 11th | - | 2014 | British Touring Car Championship | Exocet Racing | 30 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 147 | 12th | - | 2015 | British Touring Car Championship | Exocet AlcoSense Racing | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 14th | - | 2016 | British Touring Car Championship | Handy Motorsport (Speedworks Motorsport)| 30| 0| 0| 0| 3| 129| 16th| -| 2017| British Touring Car Championship| Handy Motorsport (Simon Belcher)| 30| 1| 1| 0| 2| 174| 11th| -| 2018| British Touring Car Championship| DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing (Simon Belcher)| 30| 0| 0| 0| 2| 126| 14th| -| 2020| British Touring Car Championship| Power Maxed Car Care Racing (Power Maxed Racing)| 3| 0| 0| 0| 0| 13| 22nd| |
Full Formula 3 Euro Series Results
(key) (Events in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics signify fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final Position | Points Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Full British GT Championship Results
(key) (Bolded races indicate pole position within class) (Italicized races indicate fastest lap in class)
| Year | Team/Entrant | Vehicle | Category | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Championship Standing | Total 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 |
Full British Touring Car Championship results
(legend) (Races shown in bold denote pole position – 1 point awarded in the opening race) (Races in italics represent fastest lap – 1 point granted in every race) (* indicates the driver led at least one lap – 1 point awarded)
External links
| Year | Team | Vehicle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rob Austin Racing | Audi A4 | BRH2 | BRH3 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DON1 Retired |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DON2 Retired |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| DON3 13th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| THR1 Retired |style="background:#FFFFFF;"| THR2 Did Not Start |style="background:#FFFFFF;"| THR3 Did Not Start |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| OUL1 Retired |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| OUL2 12th |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| OUL3 16th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CRO1 Retired |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CRO2 Not Classified |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CRO3 Retired |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SNE1 15th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SNE2 Retired |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SNE3 10th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| KNO1 Retired |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| KNO2 Retired |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| KNO3 Retired |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ROC1 7th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ROC2 9th |style="background:#DFDFDF;"| ROC3 2nd* |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| BRH1 13th |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| BRH2 14th |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| BRH3 13th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SIL1 Retired |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SIL2 12th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL3 6th ! 16th ! 26 points | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Rob Austin Racing | Audi A4 | BRH1 8th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BRH2 5th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BRH3 5th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DON1 Retired |style="background:#FFFFFF;"| DON2 Did Not Start |style="background:#FFFFFF;"| DON3 Did Not Start |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| THR1 Retired |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| THR2 18th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| THR3 13th | OUL1 | OUL2 | OUL3 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| CRO1 5th |style="background:#ffdf9f;"| CRO2 3rd |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| CRO3 7th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SNE1 12th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SNE2 Retired |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SNE3 Retired | KNO1 | KNO2 | KNO3 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ROC1 9th |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ROC2 16th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ROC3 10th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL1 5th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL2 5th |style="background:#000000; color:white"| SIL3 Disqualified |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| BRH1 17th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BRH2 10th |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BRH3 7th ! 13th ! 122 points | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | WIX Racing | Audi A4 | BRH1 P3* |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BRH2 Retired |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BRH3 Retired |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| DON1 14th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DON2 Retired |style="background:#FFFFFF;"| DON3 Did Not Start |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| THR1 19th |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| THR2 18th |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| THR3 Retired |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| OUL1 13th | style="background:#DFFFDF"| OUL2 8th | style =" background: #DFFFDF"| OUL3 5* |
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1981 births
- Living people
- Athletes from Evesham
- English motorsport competitors
- British Formula Renault 2.0 participants
- British Formula Three Championship competitors
- British GT Championship participants
- Formula 3 Euro Series competitors
- Japanese Formula 3 Championship participants
- British Touring Car Championship competitors
- Owners of sports car racing teams
- Sports figures from Worcestershire
- Ginetta GT4 Supercup competitors
- Renault UK Clio Cup competitors
- Carlin racing team drivers
- British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers