Butcher is the prime cut at Silverstone
The Toyota Corolla was floating through Copse Corner. There are three raised kerbs on the inside, and its precision guiding meant the car’s right-rear wheel was striking the first, briefly airborne before gravity brought that wheel down on the third, the push from this downward slope then allowing maximum momentum on the run down to Maggotts and Becketts. Rory Butcher has a lovely, cultured, classical driving style, notwithstanding his unfortunate knack of spectacular exits from races. And Speedworks Motorsport had given him a car that was allowing him to beautifully express this.
It had been the same last time out at Croft. Butcher had looked a shoo-in for a top grid position, if not pole, in North Yorkshire, only for the engine to let go before he’d properly got going in qualifying. Weekend ruined, but now down to 10th in the points and therefore carrying only 9kg of success ballast. At Silverstone, the British Touring Car Championship cowed before his and the Toyota’s mastery. Fastest in both free practice sessions, top of the first qualifying period, pole position in the top-10 shootout, and two wins – one with the 9kg, one with 75kg, his penalty for victory in the opening race.
The NGTC ruleset has been in operation in the BTCC for a decade now, and the proliferation of standard parts means that one front-wheel-drive car should be much like any other. But there are still clearly significant differences in set-up. It was the departure from Speedworks last winter of Tom Ingram and his engineer Spencer Aldridge that
