Rory Butcher keeping focus on the long game

Rory Butcher insisted that his focus remains on the “long game” after another solid showing in the second round of the BTCC season at Donington Park.

The Cobra Sport AmD driver secured his maiden victory in the final race of the weekend at Brands Hatch and headed to Donington Park keen to try and fight towards the sharp end of the grid.

A difficult qualifying session saw the Scot qualify down in 19th place but a solid recovery on race day saw him work his way forwards across the three races to secure a brace of top five finishes.

A haul of 30 points across the weekend means Butcher sits just six points off the championship lead in fifth spot ahead of Thruxton; a circuit where he ran towards the sharp end during the recent official test.

“Qualifying was so disappointing as we didn’t get a decent lap in the conditions and it made race day tough,” he said. “But I tried to make progress in each race and it worked. We got the fastest lap on the medium tyre and had the quickest car on the hard tyre in race three, which is really good.

“Before race three I thought it would be nice to try and get my tally for the day up to 30 points and that’s what we did. That is the goal for each race meeting and I’m always looking at the bigger picture and the season as a whole.

“The car was strong in the Thruxton test we did recently and whilst a little bit of ballast will hit us going there, we’ll be in the mix. It isn’t about fighting for pole, it’s about challenging for the points on race day that will be key later in the year.”