Dave Pinkney will drive for Rob Austin Racing in the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Pinkney, 58, from Bridlington is a veteran of the BTCC having raced on and off in the championship since the 1980s. He has been more of a regular entrant in recent years, having raced in the series for four of the last five seasons. His switch to Rob Austin Racing means he will drive his fifth different car since 2006, having previously campaigned a Honda Integra, Alfa Romeo 156, Honda Civic and Vauxhall Vectra.

His new team will run Audi A4s, the only rear wheel drive cars built to the Next Generation Touring Car regulations, that will compete in the championship this season.

Pinkney said: “I have been in talks with Rob Austin Racing for a while now and I’m very excited to be on board with the Audi project. I think we have the right package to be running at the sharp end of the grid and I can’t wait to get in to the season.”

 Team boss Rob Austin said: “This is a great step for us, we needed an experienced driver and I am sure that Dave’s expertise will help us sort the new car and get us to the front of the pack.”

 The colour scheme of the cars has now been decided (naturally one will have some pink integrated into it) and will be revealed at the Media Day on the 24^th March at Silverstone where the team expect to unveil their first car while the second is being completed at GPRM in Buckingham.

Tom Surgay is the Porsche Carrera Cup GB correspondant for 2011. Tom's currently studying English Language with Journalism at Huddersfield University. You can contact him at tom@btcccrazy.co.uk or on twitter @tsurgay.