Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher controlled the reverse grid British Touring Car Championship contest at Knockhill to take a memorable home victory.
The Scot got the jump on race three polesitter Senna Proctor on the initial race start before the encounter was red-flagged on lap two following heavy contact at the chicane after his team-mate Ollie Jackson’s damaged Ford Focus spun and was collected by an unsighted Mike Bushell and then Sam Osborne, with all three retiring from the race.
When the race restarted, Butcher replicated his start to hit the front ahead of the Hyundai i30 Fastback N but is now under investigation for initially creeping forward before the lights went out.
He would extend his advantage out front to well over six seconds out front to provisionally take his second victory of the season, having inherited the first victory for the new-for-2020 Ford Focus ST after Josh Cook’s exclusion in race one at Oulton Park.
Proctor held on to second position to take his best result of the 2020 campaign so far, while Tom Chilton rounded out the podium positions to provide BTC Racing with some consolation after a torrid day at the Fife circuit.
Tom Oliphant narrowly missed out on the rostrum after pressurising Chilton late in the race, having progressed to fourth by virtue of a brave move down the inside of Duffus Dip on Chris Smiley’s Hyundai.
Race one podium finisher Jake Hill completed the top five runners ahead of the newer FK8 Honda Civic Type R of Dan Cammish who clawed some points back on his championship rivals in sixth.
The second Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai of Smiley put in a defensive masterclass to hold onto seventh position after fending off pressure from home hero Aiden Moffat and reigning champion Colin Turkington.
Turkington was making progress from 11th on the grid and initially got ahead of the Scot before the pair switched positions again with two laps remaining, while Tom Ingram’s Toyota Corolla rounded out the top ten.
Behind Ingram was race one and two winner Ash Sutton in the second Laser Tools Racing Infiniti, who couldn’t find a way past Ingram but consolidated a strong day at Knockhill to limit the damage to his championship challenge with now a ten point gap to Turkington after 12 races.
The 2017 champion got past Matt Neal early in the restarted race with a neat switchback move on the exit of McIntyre, with the triple champion eventually coming home 12th ahead of Stephen Jelly’s BMW 1 Series who progressed into the points from 23rd on the grid.
In 14th position was Oulton Park race three winner’s Adam Morgan in the Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes, while Josh Cook salvaged a point from another weekend to forget in his 2020 season.
The championship now has a three week break before returning to action at Hampshire’s Thruxton circuit on the weekend of 19-20 September.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 6 | I | Rory BUTCHER |  |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 20 | 17:10.714 | 50.996 | 2 |
| 2 | 18 | I | Senna PROCTOR | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 20 | 6.442 | 51.341 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | I | Tom CHILTON | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 20 | 7.232 | 51.385 | 5 |
| 4 | 15 | M | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 20 | 7.816 | 51.056 | 6 |
| 5 | 24 | I | Jake HILL | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 20 | 9.063 | 51.249 | 4 |
| 6 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 20 | 12.319 | 51.287 | 8 |
| 7 | 22 | I | Chris SMILEY | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 20 | 21.393 | 51.897 | 3 |
| 8 | 16 | I | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 20 | 21.720 | 51.506 | 7 |
| 9 | 1 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 20 | 21.925 | 51.402 | 10 |
| 10 | 80 | M | Tom INGRAM | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 20 | 22.312 | 51.455 | 9 |
| 11 | 116 | I | Ashley SUTTON | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 20 | 22.516 | 51.438 | 11 |
| 12 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 20 | 22.987 | 51.621 | 15 |
| 13 | 12 | I | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 20 | 24.598 | 51.453 | 23 |
| 14 | 32 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 20 | 25.833 | 51.708 | 14 |
| 15 | 66 | I | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 20 | 26.066 | 51.774 | 24 |
| 16 | 777 | I | Michael CREES | |
The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 20 | 26.721 | 51.757 | 17 |
| 17 | 41 | I | Carl BOARDLEY | |
Team HARD. | BMW 125i M Sport | 20 | 29.535 | 52.079 | 12 |
| 18 | 180 | I | James GORNALL | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 20 | 29.718 | 51.779 | 20 |
| 19 | 19 | I | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 20 | 30.231 | 51.847 | 25 |
| 20 | 44 | I | Andy NEATE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 20 | 33.579 | 52.099 | 22 |
| 21 | 31 | I | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 20 | 34.205 | 51.738 | 19 |
| 22 | 32 | I | Jack BUTEL | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 20 | 37.796 | 52.249 | 21 |
| R | 48 | I | Ollie JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 0 | DNF | N/A | 13 |
| R | 21 | I | Mike BUSHELL | |
Power Maxed Car Care Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 0 | DNF | N/A | 16 |
| R | 4 | I | Sam OSBORNE | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 0 | DNF | N/A | 18 |
