AmD Tuning’s Rory Butcher took pole position for the opening race of the British Touring Car Championship comfortably from fellow Honda racer Dan Cammish with an advantage of well over two tenths.
The two time BTCC winner has enjoyed the perfect Saturday at the his local circuit, topping both free practice sessions before going quicker still in qualifying to secure his first BTCC pole position.
His time of 50.451s betters Cammish’s pole position at the Fife circuit last year by nearly half a second, and the Honda driver’s FK8 Civic was at the sharp end again, albeit 0.243s adrift of Butcher’s benchmark.
BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan heads the second row in his BMW 3 Series with Motorbase Performance’s Tom Chilton for company in his Ford Focus RS, enjoying a strong showing at the same track he won the final race at last season.
In fifth position was Team BMR’s Senna Proctor, who scored his best qualifying result of the season in his Subaru Levorg, while standings leader Colin Turkington was sixth in his BMW.
Turkington’s team-mate Tom Oliphant was just behind to put all three 330i M Sport machines into the top seven, while double Thruxton podium-finisher Adam Morgan continued his renewed form in eighth position.
BTC Racing’s Chris Smiley placed in ninth position ahead of fellow Honda runner Matt Neal who rounded out the top ten.
In 11th was Tom Ingram’s Toyota Corolla, bouncing back to a solid result after struggling throughout free practice, while home hero Aiden Moffat enjoyed the best ever qualifying session for the Infiniti Q50 in the series in 12th place.
Stephen Jelley, who secured a front-row start at Knockhill last season, could only manage 13th this time around ahead of Ash Sutton in the second Subaru Levorg.
Double BTCC champion Jason Plato failed to carry momentum after a strong second practice and struggled down in 16th, ahead of series returnee Mike Bushell and his AmD stablemate Jake Hill.
In the fourth AmD Tuning machine, Mark Blundell caused the only session stoppage with around 20 minutes remaining after a spin at Clark.
The Audi S3 initially appeared to be stuck in the gravel on the exit but then managed to get back to the pits, Blundell seemingly struggling on his racing debut at Knockhill.
The opening race of the British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill is scheduled to get underway at 11:45 BST tomorrow [15 September].
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 6 | I | Rory BUTCHER |  |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 50.451 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 24 | 50.694 | 0.243 |
| 3 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 30 | 50.754 | 0.303 |
| 4 | 3 | I | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 22 | 50.800 | 0.349 |
| 5 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 28 | 50.850 | 0.399 |
| 6 | 1 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 28 | 50.854 | 0.403 |
| 7 | 15 | M | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 30 | 50.859 | 0.408 |
| 8 | 33 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 25 | 50.863 | 0.412 |
| 9 | 22 | I | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 24 | 50.865 | 0.414 |
| 10 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 26 | 50.869 | 0.418 |
| 11 | 80 | M | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 20 | 50.891 | 0.440 |
| 12 | 16 | I | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 28 | 50.954 | 0.503 |
| 13 | 12 | I | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 30 | 50.972 | 0.521 |
| 14 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 27 | 51.010 | 0.559 |
| 15 | 11 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 23 | 51.017 | 0.566 |
| 16 | 21 | I | Mike BUSHELL | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 51.046 | 0.595 |
| 17 | 24 | I | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 25 | 51.054 | 0.603 |
| 18 | 48 | I | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 26 | 51.176 | 0.725 |
| 19 | 32 | I | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 25 | 51.210 | 0.759 |
| 20 | 66 | I | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 51.215 | 0.764 |
| 21 | 303 | I | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 26 | 51.273 | 0.822 |
| 22 | 9 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 25 | 51.422 | 0.971 |
| 23 | 19 | I | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 51.457 | 1.006 |
| 24 | 41 | I | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 22 | 51.604 | 1.153 |
| 25 | 31 | I | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 21 | 51.620 | 1.169 |
| 26 | 777 | I | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 51.641 | 1.190 |
| 27 | 28 | I | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 25 | 51.879 | 1.428 |
| 28 | 37 | I | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 25 | 52.009 | 1.558 |
| 29 | 4 | I | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 23 | 52.237 | 1.786 |
| 30 | 8 | I | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 5 | 52.937 | 2.486 |