ROB Austin Racing are looking to put a nightmare few months behind them and make an impact in the second half of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season.

The Pershore team have been beset by technical difficulties in their debut year to the extent they have only been able to run one New Generation Touring Car-spec Audi A4.

As a result, driver David Pinkney distanced himself from the set-up, one of just three using the NGTC design, and principal Rob Austin has been behind the wheel.

The team, though, believe they have addressed the car’s teething troubles and have since switched to a Lehmann-tuned turbo engine as well as reducing the weight by 90kgs.

That enabled Austin to post more competitive times at Oulton Park and Croft earlier this month, although the team are yet to score a point.

However, he is confident of getting off the mark when the competition resumes at Snetterton, Norfolk, in August.

“We are finally excited again,” Austin said.

“We were excited before the season, then we realised what was going wrong with the car and have dealt with that. We showed great progress at Croft.

“We will be getting stronger and stronger as the season progresses.”

The second Audi A4 is also on its way and talks are ongoing with potential drivers, one of which is Pinkney.

Austin said: “I think four people are genuinely interested and have the resources to do it, but we’re still evaluating our options and are interested in hearing from people.

“The priority is obviously the budget and, while past experience in touring cars would be great, pace and the potential to progress is more important.

“We’re hoping to have something nailed down sooner rather than later, but these deals take time to pull together.”

He added: “We have a lot of work to do with the A4 over the summer break — we have lots up our sleeves to unlock the car’s potential.

“We’re aiming to be well into the top 10 at the next round and are looking forward to turning up at Snetterton with really quick Audis.”