Scotsman Rory Butcher has scored a double top during the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship practice sessions at Knockhill, suggesting the home hero is set to be a serious contender for pole position when qualifying comes around later this afternoon.
Such was the pace of FP2 that no fewer than 20 drivers dipped under the existing qualifying lap record in what was the fastest BTCC session in history around the 1.27-mile circuit.
That lap record currently belongs to Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish and the Honda man went second quickest in the session, proving a perfect tonic for the title contender before the business end of the weekend commences.
Team Parker Racing's Stephen Jelley was topping the times midway through the 40-minutes of running, but the BMW 1 Series man eventually had to settle for third. Jelley's effort still represents an impressive return to form for the BTCC race winner as he looks to add further podiums to his 2019 tally.
Double champion Jason Plato ran under the radar for the vast majority of the two practice sessions, before the Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing driver fired in a late flier to take fourth ahead of local lad Aiden Moffat. Laser Tools Racing's Moffat has run in the top five all day so far, with the Scottish squad seemingly unlocking more potential in its Infiniti Q50.
Former champions – Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal – were next in the order, whilst BTC Racing's Chris Smiley bounced back from a problematic FP1 to claim eighth in this one.
Team BMW's Tom Oliphant was ninth in his ballast-free 3 Series, whilst Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's Ash Sutton rounded out the top ten.
Qualifying for Round 23 of the 2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at 15:00 with exclusive streaming starting five minutes earlier via www.itv.com/btcc.
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Knockhill
1 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance 50.615s
2 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.254s
3 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.303s
4 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +0.309s
5 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.361s
6 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.362s
7 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.370s
8 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Racing +0.409s
9 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.450s
10 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.485s
11 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +51.162s
12 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.556s
13 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.557s
14 Jake HILL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +0.611s
15 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.670s
16 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.697s
17 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.745s
18 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.859s
19 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +0.859s
20 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.896s
21 Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +1.034s
22 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters +1.050s
23 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport +1.181s
23 Michael CREES (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +0.992s
24 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +1.287s
25 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +1.454s
26 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Motorbase +1.496s
27 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +1.538s
28 Michael CREES (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +1.543s
29 Mark BLUNDELL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +1.572s
30 Rob SMITH (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +1.725s
