Rory Butcher “surprised” by Knockhill pole gap

Rory Butcher admitted he was surprised by the margin at the front of the pack after securing his maiden pole in the British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill.

The Scot was the class of the field across Saturday at the wheel of his Cobra Sport AmD Honda Civic Type R, topping both free practice sessions before smashing Dan Cammish’s qualifying lap record en-route to pole.

Butcher would ultimately end up nearly a quarter of a second clear of Cammish at the conclusion of the session, and will now seek to try and build on his performance during Sunday’s three races as he targets a third win of the campaign.

“I guess I am a bit surprised by the margin,” he said. “I feel super confident in the car, but two and half tenths is a big gap round here. I’m so pleased as we’ve had to work on the car; I haven’t been totally happy with it all the way through the day. We found time in each session and I love it when we do that as it shows we are making progress.

“I’m confident in the car although tyre management will be needed a bit tomorrow I feel with the soft being used twice. We’ll have to see how the first few laps go and if I can get it off the line and hold the lead, then it may be a case of managing things.

“It’s been a tough week for the team for reasons that we all know, and that result is a good lift for everyone. That’s for Sam and Georgie.”