Pole position for Rory Butcher

The Kirkcaldy racing car star benefited from Josh Cook’s misfortune in the opener as the on-track race winner was later excluded from the result after his BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R failed a post-race ride height check.

After suffering a puncture in two races the previous weekend at Brands Hatch, pole-sitter Butcher cruised into a comfortable lead during the early stages, whilst Cook had to use all of his talent to fight back after initially losing places off the line.

Cook made a number of impressive moves on his way to eventually catching and passing Butcher, but despite crossing the line comfortably clear at the head of the field, his celebrations were soon cut short due to the aforementioned penalty.

The result meant Butcher had claimed his first victory of the season, as well as scoring a maiden success for the all-new Motorbase Performance Ford Focus.

He said: “After the bad luck at Brands Hatch, we have finished on the podium here with points on the board.

“I am delighted to get the first win in the new Motorbase Ford Focus.

“The good thing is our car was potentially the strongest front-wheel drive car out there.

“The Ford is fantastic here, but the conditions generally just seemed to suit the rear-wheel drive cars more.”