HANDY Motorsport team principal Simon Belcher is hoping for another step forward as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season hits the midway point at Croft circuit in North Yorkshire this weekend.

Driver Rob Austin has delivered good displays during the 2016 campaign but has often seen his progress stunted by difficulties in qualifying.

The 34-year-old, in his first season of action with a front-wheel drive BTCC car, certainly made an impact from the outset in his maiden campaign with Handy, securing the squad’s best ever finish of 11th place on the opening weekend of the season at Brands Hatch in the team's Toyota Avensis.

At Donington Park, Austin took a best result of eighth position and raised the bar again with seventh at Thruxton before the momentum stalled last time out at Oulton Park.

“We made big steps forward with the car at Oulton, which unfortunately didn’t show in the race results”, said Belcher.

“We had a mixture of mechanical problems and some bad luck but the car was considerably better than at the first few events. I really do feel we’re on the verge of a bigger breakthrough.

“Oulton didn’t show the true pace, especially in qualifying, but Rob raced very well and on the soft tyre in the last race, he set his fastest lap on the last lap.

“It proved the car is working well and we’re hoping Croft will go smoothly. It’s a circuit where the rear-wheel drive cars will be strong but our aim is to still be in the top 10 in qualifying and to work from there.”

Despite being only 0.7 seconds shy of pole position, Austin ended up having to settle for a lower-than-anticipated 19th on the grid at Oulton Park last weekend.

Free practice takes place on Saturday ahead of qualifying, with three rounds of the championships taking place on Sunday.