After his WIX Racing Audi A4 left Brands Hatch in pieces, it looked although Rob Austin’s excellent start to the season was about to come to a shuddering halt.
From taking a race one podium, his weekend went from dream to nightmare when a crash with Dave Newsham gave the team a massive amount of work to be able to compete at Donington Park.
The team themselves were never in any doubt and their first words after viewing the wreck come back on a truck at the end of the were “We’ll fix that in time for Donington. It’ll take some late nights but we’ll do it.”
Rob himself initially wasn’t so confident and understandably so as the car looked like something you’d write off if it was your road car. Work started as soon as the car arrived back at the team’s base at Pershore in Worcestershire.
But here at Donington park, only three weeks later, the car is fully restored. Rob is raring to go and he can’t thank the team enough;
“It’s been… emotional. There’ve been a few tears along the way, during the rebuild of the car when a few setbacks left everyone wondering if we’d make it and then at the end when we knew it was going to happen. It has been amazing to see it unfold and to be a part of it, what my boys have achieved. We don’t have anywhere near like the number of people of the works teams, yet they’ve still managed it. When I think back to how the car looked when I first got out after the crash… it’s just incredible. If I could I’d give all the lads a big kiss but I’m a happily married man.”
He’s feeling bullish about his chances at Donington Park too
“I believe we’re in great shape for Donington. Our 2013 developments worked very well at Brands and, in theory, we’ll be able to make more use of them this weekend. On paper Donington’s a better lay-out for the Audi and it provides more overtaking opportunities – and I love overtaking people. After getting close to our first win at Brands Hatch, victory is all I’m interested in.”
The repair costs were helped after the team had an idea to sell T-shirts with the slogan “I helped fix Sherman” to the fans. The response was huge and nearly 500 T-shirts were sold. Rob has nothing but praise for the fans that helped put his season back on track;
“The feedback from the fans has been incredible and we’re all deeply touched. They really are the best in the world,” By Marc Waller
