HUNTER Abbott will race the Pershore-based Rob Austin Racing team’s second Audi A4 in the British Touring Car Championship.

The Maidenhead driver enters his first BTCC season as team-mate to Evesham's Rob Austin.

Major sponsorship for the 33-year-old, who has raced in British and international GT competitions with numerous podium finishes, will come from AlcoSense.

The first of 10 race events that make up the BTCC calendar is at Brands Hatch, Kent, on Sunday, March 30.

Abbott said: “Racing in the BTCC is the realisation of part of a childhood dream and finally I’ve got an opportunity to do it – and with a team that’s clearly on the up. Rob and I shared a car in 2008 in British GT and we like the same things.”

Team principal Austin said: “I’m very excited about having Hunter in the team. He’s driven for me in the past and has always been very rapid.”