Rory Butcher has pace, but no luck
With all eyes on the Infiniti of Ash Sutton following his trio of impressive performances at Donington, it was Motorbase Performance who turned heads on Saturday for qualifying. Piloting the new Ford Focus ST for Motorbase, Rory Butcher narrowly took pole from Honda’s Dan Cammish with team-mate Ollie Jackson taking third, as the top four were separated by less than one tenth of a second.
Butcher controlled the field for much of the opening encounter, setting up what appeared to be the perfect start to the day for the Knockhill native. A late race safety car would prove costly, as not only did his lead evaporate, but immediately following the restart the Ford suffered a front-left puncture. Butcher was forced to retire, having to line up 25th for the start of race two and any chance of a strong weekend went out the window.
Race two was a real signal of intent for Butcher. Starting from the back row of the grid, Butcher’s weekend was to be a damage limitation exercise from then on and his best bet would be to get in with a shot at the reverse grid for race three. It seems no-one told Butcher, though, as he carved his way through the field, reaching 12th by the time the safety car came out on lap four. After a lengthy safety car period Butcher was able to claw further up through the field to fourth by the finish line.
Starting from ninth in the reverse grid race, Butcher once again found himself at the sharp end of the pack, running third before yet another puncture ruined a good looking result. Had he not had the two retirements, you can guarantee that the Scot would be much higher in the standings than the sixth he came away with.