SWINDON’S Handy Motorsport team continue to go from strength to strength after Toyota Avensis driver Rob Austin secured a best-ever finish at the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park at the weekend.

Austin drove to eighth in round six and also finished inside the top 10 in the other two rounds, overcoming problems in practice and qualifying to climb to seventh as his team reached 11th in the team championship and seventh in the Independents Team Trophy.

Notably, in rounds five and six on Sunday afternoon, he lapped within just 0.2 seconds of fastest-lap pace.

In the final encounter, where the 34-year-old delivered his best performance yet in the front-wheel drive Toyota, he actually lapped with quicker pace than race winner Matt Neal.

“It’s been a frustrating weekend in a lot of ways, but definitely positive with the steps forward we made – especially in races two and three”, said Austin.

“Eighth in race three could have been a top-five.

"I took a couple of laps to get adjusted to the changes we made to the car for the final race and I’m a bit annoyed at myself for that.

“The pace was very good though, being within two tenths of fastest lap; well, you’ve got to be happy with that.

“In the last race, the engine started to overheat a bit, so I had to back it off over the last five laps but the tyres were still very good so we know much more was possible.

“The team worked together better as a unit this weekend and we’ve had better results, so we just need to continue that trend.”

Team principal Simon Belcher said: “It wasn’t the smoothest weekend but we’re all delighted to come away with our first ever top-10 in the BTCC.

"To then improve on that with eighth in the final race was fantastic.

“Rob produced some great drives in the races.

"We know he’s quick and the car is quick and the lap times proved that. It’s been another good step forward.”

The championship next visitors Handy Motorsport’s home track, Thruxton, in Hampshire, on May 7-8.