Rob Austin


Robert Christopher "Rob" Austin is a British racing driver who formerly competed in the British Touring Car Championship. He was born in Evesham, Worcestershire.

Racing career

Formula 3

His career started in British Formula Renault in 1998, where he raced until 1999. An accident put him out of racing for the 2000 season, but he returned in British Formula 3 for Alain Menu's team in 2001, where he raced until 2004. He also has Japanese Formula Three experience.

British GT Championship

Austin entered the British GT Championship in 2008 with a brand new Ginetta G50 GT4 under the Rob Austin Racing banner. He drove alongside Hunter Abbott although they missed the first event at Oulton Park when Abbott crashed and destroyed the car. They took the first of three GT4 victories in the third race of the season at Knockhill having taken delivery of a new car. 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 at Thruxton.

British Touring Car Championship

In 2011, Austin took over the driving duties from David Pinkney in the British Touring Car Championship due to Pinkney's departure from the team after the first round. He competed in a NGTC specification Audi A4 for his own team. Austin qualified a career best fourth at Knockhill but retired in the first race. He took his maiden podium finish in the third race at Rockingham, ending up second by James Nash. He completed the season in 16th place with one podium finish and one fastest lap.
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 at Brands Hatch Indy. 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 for Donington Park and Thruxton. Austin sat out the meeting at Oulton Park while series debutant and 2009 Euroseries 3000 champion Will Bratt was the team's sole entrant at the Cheshire venue. He returned to the car for the next race at Croft, taking his second podium finish in race two. 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. He was disqualified from the third race at Silverstone after colliding with Daniel Welch on lap three while fighting for second place. Austin secured a title sponsor for the season finale at Brands Hatch, his car would carry a special NASCAR inspired livery for Wix Filters.
Austin confirmed his return in 2013 with the team running under the WIX Filters banner. Austin led early on in the first race of the season at Brands Hatch, he was then passed by Jason Plato and eventually finished third behind Andrew Jordan. He retired from the following two races, in race three he was collected by Dave 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. He took his first pole position in the BTCC at the Knockhill round. He took his first outright win at the next event at Rockingham; he took victory in race two ahead of Gordon Shedden. After that he only scored 11 more points for the rest of the year, finishing 11th in the standings.
Austin returned for the 2014 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'.
In March 2014 Hunter Abbott signed for Rob Austin Racing to run in a second Audi A4 in the 2014 season under the AlcoSense Racing Banner.

Other activities

Austin appeared in the Ron Howard film Rush, portraying Brett Lunger and driving his Surtees TS19, which is owned by his father for racing in historic events.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2005Team Midland EuroseriesDallara F305/001ToyotaHOC
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		NC0

Complete British GT Championship results

YearEntrantCarClass1234567891011121314DCPoints
2008Rob Austin RacingGinetta G50GT4OUL
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		2nd80

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

YearTeamCar123556789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930DCPoints
2011Rob Austin RacingAudi A4BRH
1		BRH
2		BRH
3		DON
1
Ret		DON
2
Ret		DON
3
13		THR
1
Ret		THR
2
DNS		THR
3
DNS		OUL
1
Ret		OUL
2
12		OUL
3
16		CRO
1
Ret		CRO
2
NC		CRO
3
Ret		SNE
1
15		SNE
2
Ret		SNE
3
10		KNO
1
Ret		KNO
2
Ret		KNO
3
Ret		ROC
1
7		ROC
2
9		ROC
3
2*		BRH
1
13		BRH
2
14		BRH
3
13		SIL
1
Ret		SIL
2
12		SIL
3
6		16th26
2012Rob Austin RacingAudi A4BRH
1
8		BRH
2
5		BRH
3
5		DON
1
Ret		DON
2
DNS		DON
3
DNS		THR
1
Ret		THR
2
18		THR
3
13		OUL
1		OUL
2		OUL
3		CRO
1
5		CRO
2
3		CRO
3
7		SNE
1
12		SNE
2
Ret		SNE
3
Ret		KNO
1		KNO
2		KNO
3		ROC
1
9		ROC
2
16		ROC
3
10		SIL
1
5		SIL
2
5		SIL
3
DSQ		BRH
1
17		BRH
2
10		BRH
3
7		13th122
2013WIX RacingAudi A4BRH
1
3*		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
Ret		DON
1
14		DON
2
Ret		DON
3
DNS		THR
1
19		THR
2
18		THR
3
Ret		OUL
1
13		OUL
2
8		OUL
3
5*		CRO
1
13		CRO
2
14		CRO
3
11		SNE
1
15		SNE
2
14		SNE
3
12		KNO
1
3*		KNO
2
2		KNO
3
4		ROC
1
3		ROC
2
1*		ROC
3
9		SIL
1
12		SIL
2
Ret		SIL
3
17		BRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
18		11th154
2014Exocet RacingAudi A4BRH
1
5		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
11		DON
1
29		DON
2
18		DON
3
Ret		THR
1
17		THR
2
DSQ		THR
3
12		OUL
1
5		OUL
2
2		OUL
3
5		CRO
1
13		CRO
2
Ret		CRO
3
Ret		SNE
1
11		SNE
2
13		SNE
3
18		KNO
1
2		KNO
2
3		KNO
3
Ret		ROC
1
12		ROC
2
5		ROC
3
1*		SIL
1
9		SIL
2
Ret		SIL
3
18		BRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
16		BRH
3
15		12th147
2015Exocet AlcoSense RacingAudi A4BRH
1
14		BRH
2
10		BRH
3
5*		DON
1
10		DON
2
18		DON
3
Ret		THR
1
14		THR
2
9		THR
3
17		OUL
1
15		OUL
2
13		OUL
3
Ret		CRO
1
13		CRO
2
7		CRO
3
Ret		SNE
1
25		SNE
2
9		SNE
3
8		KNO
1
7		KNO
2
6		KNO
3
5		ROC
1
19		ROC
2
6		ROC
3
7		SIL
1
11		SIL
2
NC		SIL
3
17		BRH
1
18		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
Ret		14th120
2016Handy MotorsportToyota AvensisBRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
14		BRH
3
11		DON
1
18		DON
2
10		DON
3
8		THR
1
14		THR
2
10		THR
3
7		OUL
1
15		OUL
2
Ret		OUL
3
16		CRO
1
11		CRO
2
12		CRO
3
12		SNE
1
13		SNE
2
9		SNE
3
3		KNO
1
10		KNO
2
12		KNO
3
7		ROC
1
20		ROC
2
14		ROC
3
Ret		SIL
1
3		SIL
2
Ret		SIL
3
Ret		BRH
1
2		BRH
2
Ret		BRH
3
14		16th129
2017Handy MotorsportToyota AvensisBRH
1
5		BRH
2
DSQ		BRH
3
18		DON
1
3		DON
2
Ret		DON
3
13		THR
1
9		THR
2
5		THR
3
5		OUL
1
9		OUL
2
8		OUL
3
7		CRO
1
11		CRO
2
8		CRO
3
4		SNE
1
Ret		SNE
2
15		SNE
3
Ret		KNO
1
23		KNO
2
Ret		KNO
3
20		ROC
1
31		ROC
2
26		ROC
3
Ret		SIL
1
9		SIL
2
5		SIL
3
5		BRH
1
9		BRH
2
9		BRH
3
1*		11th174
2018DUO Motorsport with HMS RacingAlfa Romeo GiuliettaBRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
6		BRH
3
3*		DON
1
15		DON
2
21		DON
3
11		THR
1
16		THR
2
13		THR
3
16		OUL
1
10		OUL
2
7		OUL
3
Ret		CRO
1
Ret		CRO
2
15		CRO
3
Ret		SNE
1
6		SNE
2
Ret		SNE
3
13		ROC
1
11		ROC
2
Ret		ROC
3
18		KNO
1
14		KNO
2
9		KNO
3
13		SIL
1
26		SIL
2
9		SIL
3
5		BRH
1
15		BRH
2
9		BRH
3
3*		14th126