Butcher bags win on home soil at Knockhill

Butcher and Jake Hill each took a victory, with Andrew Jordan winning the other, as he significantly closed the overall points gap to stablemate Turkington.

What proved to be a day of drama began with Butcher getting the home crowd on its collective feet as the pole-sitter reclaimed the lead on the final lap to win an exciting opener.

The roar from the crowd could be heard above the engine noise and Butcher held firm until the finish to claim his third victory of the season.

The title race was then blown wide open as Jordan claimed victory in race two, while Turkington was forced out of contention during a podium fight with Butcher that sent him into a spin.

Butcher finished third but received a five-place grid penalty for his part in the Turkington incident.

Jake Hill took the win in the third and final race of the weekend which saw Butcher cement top spot in the Jack Sears Trophy.

He said: “I’m so happy to secure that win in front of my home crowd – it’s incredible. I’m at home here.

“I managed to make a gap through sector two which kept me safe, until that ding-dong on the last lap.”

He added: “It was a shame what happened with Turkington.

“I initially made the move to go up the inside. As we got close to the corner I could sense Colin (Turkington) was going to turn in and I tried to back out. I don’t like that. I’ve got a massive amount of respect for Colin and I hope he managed to recover.”