ROB Austin experienced three challenging Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Thruxton on Sunday, limiting his points-scoring potential for Swindon's DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing team.

Austin had to settle for a best of 13th position in race two in the team's Alfa Romeo Giulietta, battling in the unforgiving mid-pack where chances for progression were limited.

“I would say it was a disappointing and unusual weekend overall”, said Austin.

"“We absolutely had a top-10 car for qualifying but we were unlucky with the traffic.

"It’s not something we have an issue with often, and we normally manage it very well, but you only get one lap on your tyres at Thruxton and we were unfortunate to catch slower cars on a number of occasions.''

He added: “To get into the top 10 I was battling with (Adam) Morgan, (Aiden) Moffat, (Rob) Collard, (Ashley) Sutton, all proven drivers and extremely hard to beat.

"We had some great racing, just not for the positions any of us wanted or expected. I believe if we had got a clear qualifying lap and put the car sixth, which the data said was possible, we could have run in and maintained the top 10.”

Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire will host the fourth race meeting of the BTCC season over the weekend of June 9-10.