Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher was delighted with what he described as a “hugely challenging and very rewarding” podium result in the final British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton.
The Scot enjoyed a consistent day at the high-speed Hampshire circuit despite admitting he had been struggling for pace, bringing home sixth in race one before breaking into the top five in the following encounter and securing his sixth podium of the 2020 campaign in race three.
He explained that he had to “make the car as wide as possible” after fending off race-long pressure from standings leader Ash Sutton and double race winner Tom Ingram to occupy the final position on the podium in the final contest.
“Ash is not the type of driver you want behind you for 16 laps,” said Butcher. “He’s such a formidable racer and he definitely had the legs on me but I tried to make the car as wide as possible.
“He passed me through the first complex in race one so I just covered that off, and I felt like the rest of the track I was pretty safe after that.”
The trio’s battle came to a head on the final lap as Sutton tried to tee up a move on Butcher’s Ford Focus ST into the complex, but ultimately ran wide and came under attack himself from Ingram, giving Butcher the breathing space he needed.
“Last lap, he had the line down the outside into the complex and I just had to kind of come off the brakes to let the car run wide and close it off,” Butcher recalled.
“It was hugely challenging and very rewarding to bring back a third place when we haven’t had the pace this weekend, but we still bagged the points and we’ve got some silverware so I’m delighted.”
Butcher’s results at Thruxton have left him fourth in the standings, with Ingram seizing third in the championship two points ahead of him, and ultimately 34 points adrift of new standings leader Sutton.