ROB Austin returns to the scene of his maiden British Touring Car Championship victory this weekend as he looks to secure a podium finish for Swindon’s Handy Motorsport team.

Four years ago, Austin took the chequered flag for the first time in his BTCC career at Rockingham International Super Sportscar Circuit and the Worcestershire-based driver is hoping to put last weekend’s Knockhill frustrations behind him.

“Knockhill was very unfortunate but since we’ve been back, we found a problem with the car which was a result of contact at Snetterton, so that explains a lot”, said Austin.

“Due to the tight turnaround between races, we’d overlooked something, so we’ve learnt from that. We knew something had to be wrong – not being able to fight through from 23rd on the grid just wasn’t right.

“So, with everything back to how it should be, I’m sure we’ll be back to top-10 pace at Rockingham and, obviously, I have a good history there – as does the Toyota, actually.

“There’s only been one meeting this year where we haven’t had a car with the potential for podiums, and that was Knockhill because of the issue we found. I’m sure we’ll be competitive at Rockingham, we’re all very focused.”

As a result of last weekend’s trials and tribulations, Austin frustratingly slipped out of the overall top 10 in the BTCC driver standings by a point behind two-time champion Jason Plato. In the equally hotly-contested Independents Trophy, though, he remained fourth.

In the team standings, Handy still retain a top-10 place, while in the Independents Team Trophy, the squad holds fifth spot, only 14 points outside the top four.

So far in 2017, Austin and Handy have secured one overall pole position and one outright podium.