Handy hit new height as Rob Austin takes podium finish

Having also secured their first-ever pole-position in round four, the Swindon team saw Austin take a hard-earned third place finish before a tricky round five saw the Toyota Avensis was barged off the track into the gravel and retirement.

In the final round of the day, the Worcestershire driver, starting at the back of the grid, carved through the rain and the field to finish 13th out of 32 cars.

“I don’t know how to feel about the weekend really,” said Austin, “It was obviously fantastic to get the team’s first pole in qualifying, and I’m really happy with our first podium of the season.

“But we had the car to win the first race and didn’t come away with the haul of points we wanted.

“Race two was just annoying, being shoveled out of the way and ending the race in the gravel is never good.

“I was happy with what we managed to do in race three though, I started steady and built up the pace. It was nothing special in terms of the result, but I’m quite happy with it from the back.

“There are lots of positives to take away, I know we can win races this season.”

Handy team principal Simon Belcher added: “It’s fantastic to get our first ever pole position and the first podium of the year.

“We had hoped we could hold off the rest for our first win but it wasn’t to be. Rob got jacked-up by Tom Ingram in the first corner, which held him up, but he raced well to put some real points on the board.

“Race two spoiled the weekend a bit, but we proved our pace.”

Austin’s performance at the weekend means he is currently 13th in the overall Driver Championship standings with 29 points, however, in the Independents Trophy table he is eighth with 44 points.

In the HiQ Teams Championships table, Handy are placed 11th with 28 points and 10th in the Independent Team Trophy standings with 45 points.

The season now moves on to Handy’s ‘home’ circuit at Thruxton near Andover on May 6-7.