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Rory Butcher claims second pole position of 2020 campaign at Oulton Park

Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher took his second British Touring Car Championship pole position of the 2020 season at Oulton Park.

The Scot took the new-for-2020 Ford Focus ST’s maiden pole position last time out at Brands Hatch GP but would lose valuable points in his title challenge after repeat punctures in races one and three.

Butcher’s time of 1:25.734 was just under a tenth quicker than closest rival Josh Cook in the BTC Racing FK8 Honda Civic Type R, with the pair improving late in the session.

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Those improvements put them ahead of reigning champion Colin Turkington who held provisional pole in the final third of the session despite maximum ballast on board his BMW 330i M Sport.

He would then drop back to third behind Butcher and Cook, but has a good opportunity to make progress off the line in race one tomorrow as he is surrounded by front-wheel drive machinery.

The Halfords Yuasa Racing duo of Matt Neal and Dan Cammish were next in fourth and fifth positions respectively, while Jake Hill would place sixth after encouraging pace in the MB Motorsport FK2 Honda Civic Type R.

Cook’s BTC Racing stablemate Tom Chilton placed in seventh ahead of Turkington’s team-mate Tom Oliphant in eighth, with the Brands Hatch racewinner slipping down the order after having a time removed for track limits.

Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan was next in ninth ahead of the best of the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundais of Chris Smiley in tenth position.

The Northern Irishman would not get to attempt a final flying lap in the session after running wide at Druids and damaging the front bodywork of his Hyundai i30 Fastback N.

Behind him was another driver who experienced drama in the half-hour session, with Ash Sutton only managing 11th position after an early moment at the Island Hairpin followed by a black flag for track limits abuse that ended his session prematurely.

The 2017 champion was 11th ahead of series returnee Mike Bushell, who finished a respectable 12th position after strong practice pace throughout the day in mixed conditions.

Michael Crees was 13th in the third BTC Racing Honda Civic, while Senna Proctor and Tom Ingram rounded out the top 15.

Race one of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park is scheduled to get underway at 12:20 BST.

Qualifying results

POS NO CL DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 6 I Rory BUTCHER Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST 12 1:25.734 0.000
2 66 I Josh COOK BTC Racing Honda Civic Type-R 16 1:25.823 0.089
3 1 M Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW BMW 330i M Sport 17 1:25.971 0.237
4 25 M Matt NEAL Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type-R 15 1:25.986 0.252
5 27 M Dan CAMMISH Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type-R 13 1:26.118 0.384
6 24 I Jake HILL MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square Honda Civic Type-R 15 1:26.144 0.410
7 3 I Tom CHILTON BTC Racing Honda Civic Type-R 17 1:26.164 0.430
8 15 M Tom OLIPHANT Team BMW BMW 330i M Sport 18 1:26.166 0.432
9 32 I Adam MORGAN Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools Mercedes-Benz A-Class 13 1:26.259 0.525
10 22 I Chris SMILEY Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 Fastback N 15 1:26.264 0.530
11 116 I Ashley SUTTON Laser Tools Racing Infiniti Q50 16 1:26.268 0.534
12 21 I Mike BUSHELL Power Maxed Car Care Racing Vauxhall Astra 15 1:26.472 0.738
13 777 I Michael CREES The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing Honda Civic Type-R 15 1:26.519 0.785
14 18 I Senna PROCTOR Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 Fastback N 15 1:26.523 0.789
15 80 M Tom INGRAM Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters Toyota Corolla 10 1:26.574 0.840
16 48 I Ollie JACKSON Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST 15 1:26.593 0.859
17 41 I Carl BOARDLEY Team HARD. BMW 125i M Sport 17 1:26.597 0.863
18 12 I Stephen JELLEY Team Parker Racing BMW 125i M Sport 16 1:26.669 0.935
19 31 I Jack GOFF RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport Volkswagen CC 15 1:26.793 1.059
20 4 I Sam OSBORNE MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square Honda Civic Type-R 13 1:26.817 1.083
21 16 I Aiden MOFFAT Laser Tools Racing Infiniti Q50 17 1:26.871 1.137
22 180 I James GORNALL GKR TradePriceCars.com Audi S3 14 1:27.047 1.313
23 44 I Andy NEATE Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST 14 1:27.077 1.343
24 32 I Jack BUTEL Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools Mercedes-Benz A-Class 14 1:27.149 1.415
25 34 I Ollie BROWN RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport Volkswagen CC 15 1:27.425 1.691
26 28 I Nicolas HAMILTON ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. Volkswagen CC 14 1:27.815 2.081
27 19 I Bobby THOMPSON GKR TradePriceCars.com Audi S3 1 No time N/A
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