DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing driver Rob Austin suffered more misfortune at the fifth event of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Croft on Sunday, when opening lap contact in race one of the weekend impacted the entire event.

After qualifying inside the top 10 at the North Yorkshire track in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Austin was unceremoniously barged into the gravel at the first corner of round 13.

With the Swindon team’s weekend largely ruined, Austin still mounted a sensational drive in his repaired car in round 14, where he surged through the order from the back of the 32-car grid into a top-15 points-scoring finish.

More misfortune was to follow in round 15, though, when an overheating engine led to him having to retire to the pits to bring the first half of the 2018 season to an all-too-early conclusion.

Austin said: “In qualifying we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, but to be disappointed with P10 shows where we’re aiming.

“I made a mega start to race one, overtook (Josh) Cook and he slammed into the back of me after trying to go wide. I was fully past him and he took the ridiculous choice to lunge. That ruined our weekend, really.

“I think we were on for a top-seven finish at least in that race, but I wasn’t angry or anything – the feeling while I was standing in the gravel was sheer disappointment for the boys, who work so hard on the car, and our amazing sponsors who are so supportive.

“Race two was busy, there was a lot going on, and the car had really good pace. Realistically we aimed for the top 20, so the top 15 was fantastic.

“I’ve never had bad luck like this during a season, it’s insane. What’s most frustrating is we know the potential we have. We know we should be on the podium, not sitting in the gravel.”

The second half of the championship gets under way on July 28-29 at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk.