Rory Butcher: “We want to be a threat this season”

Rory Butcher admits it is “nice” that he is being viewed as a threat going into the opening rounds of the new BTCC season this weekend at Donington Park.

The Scot goes into the 2020 campaign looking to build on an impressive 2019 that saw him secure the Independents’ title and the Jack Sears Trophy as part of the AmD line-up.

Having returned to Motorbase over the winter, Butcher has wasted little time in getting up to speed with the new Ford Focus ST – running well inside the top six during testing at Silverstone and then topping the times at Snetterton during the two-day Goodyear tyre test.

The pace of the new car has left people tipping the 33-year-old to challenge for overall honours and Butcher said he was pleased to be considered amongst the contenders.

“It is nice that people are talking about us and already putting us on their radars this season as a threat, because that is the position we want to be in,” he said “We want to be a thorn in everyone’s side.

“All we can do, though, is concentrate on ourselves and build on what we have got. There are some areas where we still need to do some learning and that will happen as we get more mileage, but that is what this championship is always about.

“With a run of four race weekends over August, we are going to be flat-out. The opening weeks are about boxing clever, grabbing the points that you can and trying to have as much sympathy for the team and the mechanics as possible. They will be under a workload like they have never experienced before.”