Racing to the top
Scots drivers enjoy BTCC and British GT successes
SCOTS drivers topped the podium in both the British Touring Car and British GT Championships last weekend.
Rory Butcher was delighted to win as the BTCC and associated series visited his home circuit of Knockhill in Fife.
And Forfar’s Sandy Mitchell now leads the British GT standings after securing victory at Brands Hatch.
But although proceedings were taking place behind closed doors, most Scottish motorsport fans were keeping a close eye on proceedings at Knockhill.
And it all came good for Butcher in the final BTCC contest of the weekend, who dominated the race despite a red flag accident forcing a restart.
The 33-year-old was able to pull away to take a comfortable victory, albeit without a passionate home crowd present to add to his joy.
Earlier, the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus driver had picked up valuable points, coming fifth and 10th in the first two races.
Afterwards, Butcher said: “I didn’t really get the results I wanted in the first two races, but I knew I had the pace in the car to win if I could get a clear run, and that’s exactly what happened. To win on home soil with the new Motorbase Ford Focus is fantastic. I’m so delighted for the team.”
The Fifer heads to the next round lying third in the championship, 33 points behind Ash Sutton, who won the first two races at Knockhill, and 43 adrift of championship leader Colin Turkington.
Dalkeith’s Aiden Moffat evidently enjoyed being back on home soil, too. The Laser Tools Racing Infinit Q50 driver secured ninth, fifth and eighth place finishes.
Dumfriesshire’s Ross Wylie was also revelling on his return to the Fife venue for the first time in three years, competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
He bagged his first-ever overall podium spot in the series, finishing third in the first race in his MacConnalMason Gallery supported In2Racing Porsche 911 GT3.
And he followed that up with a fifth place in the second round. The 28-year-old said later: “It was great to get my first overall Porsche podium, especially on ‘home’ soil, and to finally get the monkey off my back.”
In the Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Fox Motorsport’s Gordie Mutch, from Lockerbie, battled hard to finish third in both of his home races.
The weekend also saw some superb Quaife MINI Challenge JCW Championship action involving several Scottish drivers, with Jack Davidson enjoying his best result of the year – finishing second in the second race.
Meanwhile, in Kent, Barwell Motorsport’s Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell scored their maiden British GT3 Championship win after a mid-race safety car period helped give them the upper hand.
However, a second safety car period slashed the 20-year-old Scot’s two-second advantage and he took the chequered flag just 0.649 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals.
The Black Bull-backed Lamborghini
Huracan Evo driver said afterwards: “It’s fantastic to finally get our first win of the season.
“We’ve been so close on a couple of occasions this season, so to get this victory is a great reward for me, my sponsors, Rob and everyone in the Barwell Motorsport team.”
With three rounds and four races remaining, Mitchell and Collard now lead the British GT Championship by 16.5 points.
Another Scot, Ian Loggie, claimed third place in the two-hour thriller at Brands Hatch in his RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG and now leads the Pro-Am standings by 14 points.
This weekend sees the GT World Challenge Europe run a six-hour contest at the famous Nurburgring. Among those set to take to the German circuit will be Scots Mitchell, Jonny Adam, Finlay Hutchison and Euan McKay.