Rory Butcher heading to Snetterton ‘with real confidence’

Rory Butcher heads to this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship races at Snetterton ‘with real confidence’ off the back of scoring another podium at the last round at Knockhill.

Although the Toyota racer was just 18^th in the overall classification following the two-day tyre test at the Norfolk circuit last month, he has high confidence for this weekend’s races.

The Scot heads from one of the shortest circuits on the calendar to the longest, with Snetterton being a venue which has previously been successful for Butcher.

The 35-year-old claimed his second outright victory at the circuit in 2019, had a consistent weekend just outside the podium places in 2020 and then scored his first podium in a Toyota at the circuit last year.

And although he has good form at Snetterton, Butcher admits that it isn’t actually one of his favourite tracks.

“You couldn’t find two much more different circuits to travel to back-to-back than Knockhill and Snetterton, but I think we can go into the weekend with real confidence, fresh from a string of consistently solid results and another podium in my home event,” said Butcher.

“The Toyota is in a good place and I’m feeling optimistic of being able to fight for some trophies again.

“The Corolla obviously has good history at Snetterton. It was fantastic to score my first podium with the car there last year, and thanks to the development we have carried out over the past 12 months, it feels much more to my liking now.”

Although Butcher was just 18^th in the tyre test, team-mate Ricky Collard ended up with the sixth fastest overall time, just over half a second off the best lap, giving Butcher some confidence for the weekend.

“I’m really looking forward to the weekend, especially after Ricky showed such great pace at the tyre test.

“We actually found a set-up there that suits us both, so hopefully that will enable us to feature up at the sharp end and secure some strong results.

“I’ve got to be honest that despite my previous achievements there, Snetterton probably isn’t one of my favourite tracks – I still don’t feel like I’ve fully mastered it – but who knows, maybe this year will be the year I finally crack it…”

Speedworks Motorsport Team Principal Christian Dick says the team is aiming for a top ten qualifying performance from both drivers off the back of the recent test result.

“Within the space of just two weeks, we go from one of the shortest tracks on the calendar to the longest, and whilst those challenges are altogether different, we have high hopes that the Toyota Corolla will be just as competitive at Snetterton as it was at Knockhill – if not indeed more so.

“We had a very positive and productive test at Snetterton recently, working through a busy programme with both cars that resulted in some good steps forward.

“The Corolla has always gone well there and still holds the qualifying lap record – and having finished on the podium at the circuit in each of the past three seasons, we have every intention of keeping that run going.

“Rory is an absolute class act and will I’m sure be right in the mix for silverware once again. We are very hopeful of getting both cars firmly inside the top ten on the grid in qualifying – and from there, anything is possible…”