EVESHAM driver Rob Austin was left frustrated after being denied a podium position in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship meet at Oulton Park.

The DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing ace enjoyed a consistent weekend before suffering a race three retirement.

But Austin recorded a best of seventh in the second contest after a pace-setting performance in opening practice.

After drawing pole position for the final race, Austin maintained second spot but with only three laps to go the Alfa Romeo Giulietta dramatically slowed due to a broken diff.

The 37-year-old said: “Although I’m still licking my wounds, there is a lot more to come from our Alfa which is very exciting.

"At the end of the day we have the newest car on the grid, it’s done the least miles and we don’t have multiple engineers and another driver to share data with so the progress we’re making is impressive.

“There are still a huge amount of positives to take away from Oulton. We were fast and really feel we have turned another corner with the car and the set-up and I see no reason why we can’t continue this form.

"Race three was disappointing. The driveshaft is a control component we have to use and unfortunately the diff failed but I can’t think of another mechanical failure we’ve had.”

Austin qualified 11th but moved up to finish 10th in the opener before his best place of the meet of seventh.

The final retirement left him 17th in the standings on 50 points and sixth in the independent category on 94.

Bidford-on-Avon team Power Maxed TAG Racing endured a challenging weekend.

Josh Cook struggled with success ballast at the weight-sensitive circuit and a race one glitch hindered Senna Proctor’s progress.

Cook eventually managed 17th, 28th and 11th to slip to fifth in the standings after being just a point off the lead with Proctor 11th after finishes of 28th, 16th and 12th.

Martin Broadhurst, team technical director, said: “The weekend just didn’t go our way with a technical glitch causing Senna to lose power briefly in race one followed by Josh’s off in race two causing suspension damage.

"Race three was all about ensuring we kept ourselves in the points. But that’s motorsport. You can’t win everything.”

Team BMW’s Colin Turkington took a commanding race two victory, moving to the standings summit in the process.

The Northern Irishman was also part of a 1-2-3 finish for the German manufacturer in the final race as Rob Collard headed home stablemates Andrew Jordan and Turkington.

Matt Simpson converted his first BTCC pole position into a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the opener.

Croft, North Yorkshire, hosts the next championship meeting on June 23 and 24.