Team HARD. Racing will bring the Cupra name to Britain’s premier motor racing series for the first time in 2021, with the squad confirming it will be building a minimum of two brand new Cupra Leons to attack next season’s Independents’ Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) crown.

The Kent-based outifit has made no secret of its desire to develop new machinery to replace the ageing Volkswagen CC, which has been in the championship since it debuted with the team in 2013. The team has used the recent COVID-19 lockdown period to assess various car models from a range of manufacturers, before committing on the new Cupra Leon, which is due to hit the market later this year.

Team HARD. Racing are no strangers to developing new cars having been responsible for the Volkswagen CCs, which have taken 14 race victories, one Teams’ championship and one Independents’ crown in its eight-year participation in the championship.

The design process is already underway for the Cupra Leon and with hybrid technology being introduced to the BTCC in 2022, Team HARD. Racing has been in communication with Cosworth Electronics in order to ensure that the design on the new BTCC spec Cupra Leon is future-proof and capable of making the most of the new technology.

At the helm of the new project will be Team HARD. Racing Managing Director, Tony Gilham, former BTCC race driver who has been instrumental in the careers of no less than ten of the current crop of BTCC stars competing in the 2020 season.

Tony Gilham, Managing Director, Team HARD, said:“We are delighted to be bringing in a new marque to the BTCC. The Volkswagen CC has enjoyed a great deal of success over its life, but it’s time for change as we look to the new hybrid era of touring cars. We have done a lot of research and we believe that the dimensions and overall shape of the Cupra Leon will work perfectly with the current NGTC regulations that are in the BTCC. A lot of hard work and countless hours lie ahead, but we are confident that we can turn this new car into a competitive beast that will be mixing it at the front from the get-go next season.”

Jack Goff, Multiple BTCC Race Winner, said:“We had a really good winter programme with the CC and that’s reflected in the race pace which has been good all season. Unfortunately, we’ve been lacking in qualifying, we need something more and the Volkswagen CC’s capabilities have reached its peak. The CC is coming to the end of its life after the 2021 season so we have decided to move to a new car a year earlier to develop and get to grips with a new chassis before the all important introduction of the hybrid system in 2022. It’s going to be a busy winter, but for now I’m fully focused on giving the CC the best send-off I can!”

Alan Gow, BTCC Chief Executive, said: “It’s always fantastic to see more new cars join the BTCC, this time with Team HARD. Racing. We set out the NGTC regulations to allow for great diversity and having the Cupra Leon on the grid is further proof of the strength of those regulations.

 “This new project from Team HARD. Racing should help this popular team advance up the grid in 2021. It’s no secret that the Volkswagen CC’s are one of the oldest on the grid but credit to Tony and his team for sticking with them and keeping the cars as competitive as possible.

“I look forward to seeing the step forward Team HARD. Racing can make with completely new cars from next season.”

Motorbase Performance once again scaled the top of the rostrum at Knockhill in Scotland last weekend with Rory Butcher rounding out a hectic week for the squad with his second victory in eight days in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

The UK’s premier motorsport series went straight from Oulton Park in Cheshire, where Butcher had claimed the team’s maiden victory of the campaign, to Fife in Scotland. The tight turnaround meant many members of the team stayed on the road and headed north rather than going back to the Kent workshops to fettle the three Ford Focus ST machines.

Butcher, the reigning Independents’ title-holder, rewarded the squad’s hard work with three top-ten finishes, which were capped with a dominant victory in the weekend’s finale on Sunday afternoon.

The Ford’s first win at Oulton Park had come when a rival was excluded for failing the post-race ride-height test, but at Knockhill, there was no doubt about Butcher’s pace as he took the lead on the opening lap and powered clear to glory.

Scotsman Butcher, who came into the weekend carrying 48kg of success ballast, was fifth in the opening race and then stuck in the mid-pack for tenth in race two. However, he grabbed his chance in the reversed-grid third encounter.

“Taking our first victory in the new Ford Focus ST is one thing and doing it on the road is great,” reflected Butcher. “But doing it at home is really special and I just am so lucky to be part of this team and have this opportunity. I’m just so happy to reward them with a victory.”

“The car came alive finally, so that and a little set-up change that we made going into the session and, obviously, stripping the car of its success ballast after quite a difficult race two really helped. It all came together, and it just shows the performance of this new car.”

The results meant that Butcher now sits in third place in the fight for this season’s BTCC crown with four of the nine meetings completed.

Motorbase battler Ollie Jackson had a bruising weekend in his Focus, with an accident in the third race robbing him of his chance to score big points after making progress with the set-up of his machine across the three races.

He bounced back from qualifying on the 11th row to fight his way up to the cusp of the points in race one and then launched into the points in the second encounter with 11th spot. However, he was caught up in a concertina effect going into the tricky chicane section in race three, which left him stranded broadside on the track and he was collected by a rival.

While Jackson emerged unscathed in the sizeable accident, he was ruing the missed chance to score a large points haul, which had gone begging.

“The car was good and had speed in it and the accident was a shame as we’d made progress and gone forwards,” said Jackson. “I’d like to think I had the pace of the cars in front of me up until the accident: I think it would have been a good result, I think we would have been in the top ten.”

Andy Neate also suffered a torrid weekend in his Motorbase Focus, in his first racing outing in a touring car at the demanding 1.27-mile hillside circuit since 2012.

His charge was scuppered by contact from a rival following a safety car period in race one, taking out both cars and leaving Neate with his first non-finish of the season. Further damage put him out of race two but he bounced back to finish in 20th in race three.

Reflecting on the weekend, Motorbase principal David Bartrum said that Butcher’s race-three win was a landmark for the team, which will now have three weeks to prepare for the resumption of combat at Thruxton in Hampshire on 19/20 September.

“A win on the road win, particularly Rory’s home circuit, is a great feeling,” said Bartrum. “It means we have had two wins in two meetings. I am a very, very happy team boss and looking forward to a few weeks in the workshop.

“We have been on the go since Oulton Park. We’ve been one very busy team, along with everyone else in this paddock you know. It’s been a real test of resources of the teams and I think they’ve all done a stonking job.”

Bartrum said that the team would now regroup at its Kent base and get the cars in brand new condition for the next rounds in Hampshire

“There is quite a lot to do,” he admits. “But we will get it done and maybe we will be able to sneak a weekend off in there somewhere. Winning races is what gives us the motivation, and that is the position we are in, so no stone will be left unturned as we battle for this crown.”

A double-podium finish kept Team BMW on top of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship on an action-packed day of racing at Knockhill.

Colin Turkington twice finished second at the Scottish track to leave with an 11-point lead in the Drivers’ standings, while three strong points finishes for Tom Oliphant helped to extend the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championship advantages of the WSR-run team.

Having qualified third carrying the maximum 60kg success ballast in his BMW 330i M Sport, Colin moved into second spot on the opening lap of race one; the Northern Irishman unable to prise an opening that would give him a shot at taking the lead.

A repeat performance in Race Two netted the four-time champion his eighth podium finish of the season – the same number that he recorded across his entire 2019 title-winning campaign.

Starting tenth in the final partially-reversed grid race, and with 54kg success ballast on board, Colin finished ninth, two places ahead of his chief title rival, to keep himself ahead in the points race.

Team-mate Tom made one of the most spectacular passing moves of the day, launching up onto two wheels on the kerb at Duffus Dip steal fourth place in race three.

That was his best result of the day, added to eighth and sixth places in the earlier races. Tom’s 32-point haul for the weekend keeps him fourth in the Drivers’ points and on course for his best-ever finish in the championship.

Colin Turkington said: “It’s another good points haul on a day when I had to be 100 per cent flat-out on every lap of every race, and I’m pleased to come away still ahead in the points. Qualifying third was what set me up for raceday, so I’m really grateful to WSR for giving me a fantastic BMW again. The main thing at this stage of the season is just to keep scoring points all the time, and it’s strange to think that we’re not even halfway through the championship because Knockhill in August usually means we’re getting towards the finish. It’s only going to get harder and harder as the title fight continues now.”

Tom Oliphant said: “I’m pretty pleased with raceday, especially after the qualifying performance. I’ve made up two places from my starting position in each race and achieved my points target for the weekend. I feel like I’ve established myself in the group of drivers in the top six of the championship, who are always fighting for podiums, and that feels good. This year has been good for me; the consistency of working with the same team, same engineer and same BMW is a big help and we’re seeing the results on-track.”

Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “It’s been another very good team effort. Six finishes from six starts, two podiums and an increased lead in the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championships too. Colin and Tom have both driven very well today, given great feedback to get the BMWs dialled in more and more, and made up positions from where they started, and the result is more strong finishes. We’re looking forward to the three-week break and giving the team a bit of a breather, because four events in five weekends has been tough on everyone and we want to come back fully refreshed for Thruxton.”

After four weekends packed with Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship action, Colin Turkington tops the new-for-2020 Goodyear Wingfoot Award standings by a single point, closely followed by Rory Butcher and Dan Cammish.

The keenly-fought category sees points awarded for each qualifying session as per the points-scoring structure of the races, with pole position receiving 20 points, second place 17 points and so on for the first 15 qualifiers.

The 2020 season has already exemplified how qualifying can be just as nail-biting as Sunday’s racing, with team-mates Tom Oliphant and Turkington in the West Surrey Racing BMWs crossing the line at Brands Hatch with the exact same qualifying time to the thousandth-of-a-second. Perfectly defining the reason Goodyear has chosen to honour the award based on qualifying positions, the drivers ultimately pick up points based on who crossed the line first, giving Turkington the advantage.

In the Motorbase Ford Focus ST, Butcher has shown his outright pace over the first four events of the season, standing in second place after successive pole positions at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park. Proving his strength in qualifying, the Scot remains Turkington’s closest rival for the Wingfoot Award and yet, based on the championship standings, he has some work to do to catch up with overall leader Turkington and second-placed Ash Sutton.

“After an action-packed first four events of the 2020 season, we’re excited to see the Wingfoot Award providing close results just as we had hoped,” said Andy Marfleet, Marketing Director Goodyear UK&I. “We are starting to see some strong qualifiers shining through who are showing their outright pace, and we are pleased to recognise these with the Goodyear Wingfoot Award.”

The 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season continues with the remaining five events, finishing at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 15 November. Updates on the Goodyear Wingfoot Award can be found at btcc.net or @Goodyear.UK on Facebook.

Current standings after Knockhill:

1	Colin TURKINGTON	61
2	Rory BUTCHER	60
3	Dan CAMMISH	58
4	Jake HILL	49
5	Ashley SUTTON	42
6	Josh COOK	37
7	Tom OLIPHANT	35
8	Tom INGRAM	34
9	Matt NEAL	32
10	Ollie JACKSON	18
11	Tom CHILTON	18
12	Senna PROCTOR	18
13	Adam MORGAN	18
14	Mike BUSHELL	10
15	Chris SMILEY	9
16	Stephen JELLEY	9
17	Aiden MOFFAT	8
18	Sam OSBORNE	4
19	Michael CREES	4

Halfords Yuasa Racing showed consistency in the fourth meeting of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill in Scotland last weekend (29/30 August), with both Dan Cammish and Matt Neal scoring points in all three races in their Honda Civic Type Rs.    

Qualifying on the tight 1.27-mile Fife circuit saw Cammish find an early gap in the traffic, setting a time good enough to start Sunday’s opening encounter from fourth on the grid.

Neal was also highly competitive until an error exiting the chicane sent him into a heavy impact with the tyre wall. The Halfords Yuasa Racing mechanics set about an overnight rebuild to ensure their driver could take up his P9 spot on the race one grid. 

Cammish made a good start and at the end of the first lap dived inside local man Rory Butcher at the hairpin to claim third. But contact from a rival then sent the Honda over the edge of a gravel trap, dropping the #27 to sixth, where it remained to the chequered flag.

Neal maintained ninth in the early laps in his newly rebuilt car, and was then able to pick off rivals Aiden Moffat and Mike Bushell to finish the first race just behind his team-mate.

At the start of race two, Cammish held onto sixth, before seizing the opportunity to grab fourth. He then repeatedly challenged Tom Ingram for the final podium spot but was unable to find a way past.

A determined performance saw Neal fight his way up the field to again cross the finish line just behind his team-mate, although a ten-second penalty due to a false start would see the BTCC veteran relegated to 15^th.

The reverse-grid draw for the final race put Cammish into eighth on the grid, while Neal started from 15^th. The pair both made strong starts, but an incident involving several cars just two laps in would see the final contest re-start from the grid.

Cammish once again got away well, this time overcoming rivals Jake Hill and Chris Smiley to finish sixth. Neal, meanwhile, found himself in a frantic multi-car midfield battle, making up three places to finish 12^th and earn potentially vital points for the Honda-backed team. 

Following a busy start to the delayed 2020 season with 12 races in just five weekends, Halfords Yuasa Racing will now enjoy a welcome three-week break before the next rounds at Thruxton on 19/20 September. 

The squad has enjoyed its strongest success record at the fast Hampshire track, scoring 12 victories there since 2011 – including a particularly memorable day in 2013, when all three wins were taken by the team. Cammish achieved a victory last time out at Thruxton, and both he and team-mate Neal will be keen to add to that record and maintain their championship challenge.

“It was quite a good day actually,” said Cammish. “We were consistent and scored points in every race, and I could have made the podium in race one had I not been knocked wide onto the gravel.

“I'm looking forward to going to Thruxton – it's a good track for us and I took a win there last season.”

“After my little off in qualifying, the Halfords Yuasa guys did a brilliant job to rebuild the car overnight and it felt great on Sunday,” added Neal. “Obviously race two was disappointing. I was penalised for being marginally out of position on the grid, which was especially frustrating as it’s so difficult to overtake around Knockhill if someone drives a tight line.

“Still, points finishes in all three races for both cars is a good record, and now we go on to Thruxton where we always run well.”

Tom Ingram piloted his Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters Corolla to its second podium finish of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship campaign at Knockhill last weekend (29/30 August), as the Speedworks Motorsport-run hatchback truly took the fight to the BTCC’s rear-wheel drive brigade.
 
The short, technically demanding circuit is traditionally regarded as rear-wheel drive territory, but nobody seemed to tell Ingram as he put the Corolla at the top of the timing screens for a while during Saturday’s FP1, before bouncing back from a gearbox oil leak that cost him set-up time in FP2 to lap second-quickest.
 
With 30kg of success ballast on-board, the Bucks-born ace again leapt to the head of the order in qualifying prior to going on a wild ride across the grass after clipping the kerb on the exit of the chicane. In what was a real ‘heart-in-mouth’ moment, it was only Ingram’s phenomenal car control that kept the Toyota out of the barriers. His earlier benchmark remained unchallenged for some time, but he was ultimately forced to settle for fifth, still well in the mix and a mere two tenths-of-a-second shy of pole position amongst the 25 high-calibre protagonists.
 
In front of the live ITV2 television cameras the following day, the two-time BTCC Independents’ Champion rose to fourth by the end of the first lap of race one and proceeded to go on the attack, but try as he might, he couldn’t quite unseat Jake Hill in a much lighter car from third place. Practically glued to his rival’s rear bumper, he flashed past the chequered flag less than half-a-second in arrears.
 
Gaining 12kg of additional weight for race two, Ingram took advantage of a squabble between Hill and Rory Butcher at the start and – by dint of leaving his braking as late as he dared – swept around the outside of both men into turn one. He stayed firmly in the lead battle until he had to turn his attentions to fending off a charging Dan Cammish in his mirrors. Soaking up sustained pressure throughout, his reward for a dogged defence was third position and the honour of best-placed front-wheel drive car.
 
From ninth on the partially-reversed grid in the finale, with 48kg on-board and two fast-starting rear-wheel drive cars right behind him, the 27-year-old pulled off an audacious manoeuvre on championship leader Colin Turkington through the opening corners, only to concede the spot again a few laps later when he found himself stuck on the outside line at the hairpin.
 
Thereafter, he was embroiled in a multi-car scrap for seventh and – not for the first time this season – boldly held his ground in a side-by-side duel with race one and two winner, Ash Sutton. Tenth position at the flag maintained Ingram’s commendable record of placing inside the top ten in every race he has finished this year – the only driver other than Turkington to do so – and saw him consolidate sixth spot in the title standings, just 16 points shy of third. Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters occupies the same ranking in the Teams’ table.
 
“Overall, we left Knockhill feeling pretty happy about everything,” said Team Principal Christian Dick. “Tom was on the pace from the outset, and even with losing almost half of the second practice session to a gearbox oil leak, he was still bang on the money so we felt pretty bullish heading into qualifying and were again right in the ballpark. To line up fifth, with the weight we were carrying and at what is essentially a rear-wheel drive track was, I thought, an excellent effort.
 
“Tom applied the pressure all the way through race one, but it’s just so difficult to overtake round there and with the championship situation to think about, we decided to bank the points for fourth place, which still kept us well in the hunt.
 
“Race two was then almost a role-reversal, as Tom found himself having to fend off a lighter car behind, which he did admirably. It’s always satisfying to finish on the podium but to do so after such a determined drive was even more rewarding and well-merited for a stellar performance.
 
“We knew race three was going to be a much tougher proposition. Once again, the reverse grid draw did us no favours and when you’re in amongst the RWD cars at Knockhill, you’ve really got to keep your wits about you. The action was frenetic and even so much as a single slip could have cost us a handful of places, but Tom kept his composure to bring home another solid points haul that leaves us in good stead moving forward.
 
“There’s no question that it’s been an intense first half to the season with four events in five weekends, but we have come out of it in very decent shape, for which the entire team deserves considerable kudos. We have scored points in ten of the 12 races to date, and the only times we haven’t scored, it has been through no fault of our own. Now we will go away, regroup and come back even stronger at Thruxton in three weeks’ time!”
 
“Another weekend where we were there-or-thereabouts throughout,” reflected Ingram. “I really don’t think we could have achieved very much more. It was definitely a big improvement compared to 12 months ago at Knockhill, which is encouraging.
 
“The Corolla felt really good in qualifying, which is all credit to the team. I knew the time I set early on would not ultimately be good enough, but I was surprised by how long it took for the others to begin to go quicker. It’s always a busy lap at Knockhill, and I didn’t quite manage to link all the sectors together but I was still pleased with fifth – it was the first time all season I’ve felt like we could really push for pole.
 
“Cammish gifted me a place when he went wide in race one, but then my momentum came to a halt behind Hill. It’s so frustrating at Knockhill – you can have the legs on the car ahead of you, but you just can’t do anything about it. All the other driver needs to do is stick to the inside at the hairpin, which forces you to the outside where you are vulnerable to attack from behind. Jake also had no ballast on-board, which gave him a slight advantage. Had I been able to get past him, perhaps I could have closed the gap to the top two, but I was happy enough to finish fourth.
 
“That said, I knew it was important to clear Jake quickly in race two, because if we had settled into a rhythm, it would have risked turning into a repeat scenario. The Corolla was superb early on and with a decent-sized gap behind, I was able to go on the attack – it actually felt like we were in the power seat for a while – but then Cammish closed onto the back of me and once you find yourself having to defend, you naturally go slower. I could see Dan was quicker in a number of areas so I was having to drive in my mirrors, and it was good to come away with our second podium of the season.
 
“It was inevitable that I was going to lose ground at the beginning of race three – even if you get the best possible start, with rear-wheel drive cars right behind you, you’re still going to get mugged. After re-passing Colin [Turkington], I then got my nose up the inside of [Aiden] Moffat coming out of the chicane but he closed the door, which resulted in contact. That left me on the outside on the approach to the hairpin, costing me the position to Colin again.
 
“With rear-wheel drive cars all around us, we were on a bit of a hiding to nothing after that – the best overtaking opportunity at the track is the final hairpin, but what we gained on the brakes, we would lose and more besides all the way from the exit up to turn one. To hang onto tenth place was probably the best we could have managed and meant we left Knockhill with three very solid results, more good points, another trophy and very little damage. Now we look forward to an altogether different type of challenge at Thruxton – bring it on!”

Relive all the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship action from Knockhill via the dulcet tones of Duncan Vincent and Dr Rob Johnson in the latest BTCC race day podcasts available below or via the BTCC Audio Portal. Comprising qualifying commentary alongside each race, you'll be set to get your BTCC fix whenever necessary...

MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square driver Jake Hill had what he described as 'probably my best BTCC weekend ever' after firstly qualifying on the front-row of the grid, a mere 0.053 seconds away from Pole Position, then taking a second top-three finish in a row in race one, and adding much-needed points with two battling drives to P8 and P5 in the remaining two races.

"Of course winning here last year was so special, plus the other podiums I've had have been so important. What was so good about this weekend was the qualifying pace - I've now qualified in the top-seven in all four events, and in both race one and race three today the car was really strong.

"It's no secret we've had ongoing technical issues - we had a misfire and a clutch problem on Saturday, and I know before we go to Thruxton the team will make a couple of major changes.

"I have to say the biggest 'thank you' to all of the guys on my car - from (team manager) Rob Ticker, to my engineer Craig Porley, and my amazing boys and girl on the car - Ben, Rob O, Dan, Micky P, Charlie and data Rob - they have worked their hearts out in this crazy five week period of four events. I love working with them and am looking forward to them having a smoother ride soon!"

Hill was expecting to lose a place to the always fast-starting BMW of championship leader Colin Turkington at the start of race one, but then began a race-long battle with Tom Ingram's works-backed Toyota, the pair nose-to-tail for the full 27 laps, with a delighted Hill taking P3, and the honour of the first front-wheel drive car home.

"Tom was relentless. But I just had enough at key places, the car was strong in them and I did my bit too! That feels great!"

Race two and now with 48kgs of success ballast and a combination of the extra weight hampering acceleration, and some braking and tyre issues meant a battling P8, but still with more points and in the mix for the reverse grid draw.

Sure enough, Hill ended up P4 on the grid for the final race of the day, now with less ballast on board and some changes to the car.

A red flag early on for an incident involving Ollie Jackson, Mike Bushell and Jake's team-mate Sam Osborne meant a delay to proceedings.

A slightly reduced race distance of 20 laps of the twisty 1.27 miles circuit saw a scrapping first couple of laps, with Oliphant getting a rapid start, and Tom Chilton edging past.

However a set of strong laps saw Hill pass Chris Smiley in a decisive move at Clark Curve, and then set about trying to catch the BMW ahead, and ultimately edging away from Dan Cammish in the latest 'works' Honda Civic Type-R to take a well-earned P5.

"The car was superb in that race. That's meant that now we have scored solid points in the last six races - including those two podiums of course, and it's moved us up to P7 in the Independents' Championship and P9 overall.

"Thruxton is next and the car was on pole for both races there last year, so having come so close at Brands Hatch and Knockhill maybe I can nip pole there.

"Most importantly the car is quick, I'm loving driving it and despite the glitches we are now scoring solid points.

"It just proves in this championship... just never give up!"

Next race weekend -Thruxton 19/20th September

Sutton and Turkington battle it out before Butcher takes home win

Laser Tools Racing’s Ash Sutton produced two carbon copy performances to claim a win double in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill, as he fended off Team BMW’s Colin Turkington in the opening encounters.
 
It became a homeland hat-trick of sorts as Laser Tools Racing’s triumphs were followed by victory for Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher in the finale.
 
Sutton secured the first-ever pole position for the Infiniti Q50 on Saturday afternoon and then duly followed it up with a pair of lights-to-flag victories on Sunday, but both came under intense pressure from championship leader Turkington.
 
Turkington hounded Sutton in the opener after the former got the jump on front-row starter Jake Hill off the line.
 
The race bunched up when a safety car period was called for following a significant accident for BTC Racing’s Josh Cook at the chicane. Cook's car wriggled through the notorious section of track, as he lost the rear-end of his Honda Civic Type R at high speed before crashing backwards into the barrier.
 
Turkington seemed to be the faster of the front two immediately after the restart, but realistically he was never close enough to make a significant move and the same could be said for the two pairs of challengers behind them.
 
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square’s Hill held off Tom Ingram’s Toyota Corolla to take his second rostrum in as many weekends, whilst Motorbase Performance’s Butcher maintained a similar advantage to the manufacturer-backed Honda of Dan Cammish.
 
Sutton then doubled up with a similar performance in the second bout as he duelled it out with Turkington again. Top two in the race and now firmly top two in the championship, the younger challenger began reducing the overall points deficit to the record-equalling four-time champion.
 
Yet again, Sutton had Turkington breathing down his neck for the full 27-lap duration – this time with the BMW 3 Series the lighter of the two machines – but was still able to keep the #1 car at bay.
 
Sutton perfectly positioned his car at every possible turn, leaving Turkington with little opportunity of grabbing another BTCC victory, and it was the Infiniti man scoring his fourth win of the season with another impressive defensive drive.
 
The rivalry is nicely bubbling between them but it’s clear that there is a huge amount of respect between the two champions.
 
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters’ Ingram was also involved in the scrap for victory during the first half of race two, before he had to turn his attentions to defending from Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Cammish.
 
Their battle ultimately allowed the lead duo to scamper away, but Ingram was still delighted with a hard-earned podium finish.
 
The reverse-grid contest belonged to Butcher as the Scotsman scored a brilliant home win, dominating the race after getting the jump by pole-sitter Senna Proctor.
 
The race was originally red flagged following a sizeable accident involving Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance), Mike Bushell (Power Maxed Car Care Racing) and Sam Osborne (MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square). 
 
The rear-right wheel of Jackson’s Ford Focus was locked, which ultimately spun his #48 machine through the chicane and in front of the oncoming traffic. Bushell had nowhere to go – hitting Jackson’s Focus with some force – whilst Osborne side-swiped the Vauxhall Astra ahead of him while trying to take evasive action.
 
The unfortunate Bushell later confirmed that he had dislocated his shoulder as well as suffering ligament damage to his wrist, whilst all others involved emerged relatively unscathed.
 
Butcher – having originally blasted by Excelr8 Motorsport’s Proctor on the first getaway – had to do it all again on the restart, and that’s exactly what he did on the run down to turn one.
 
The 33-year-old never looked back and he pulled away to take a comfortable victory, albeit without a passionate home crowd present to add to his joy.
 
Proctor took a relatively lonely second ahead of a delighted Tom Chilton – the BTC Racing driver scoring the 101st podium of his racing career.
 
The contest concluded the run of four race weekends in just five weeks with the championship picture now beginning to take shape.
 
Turkington leads Sutton in the Drivers’ standings by ten points with Butcher 43 points off the championship summit.
 
Team BMW and the Bavarian marque dominates both the Teams' and Manufacturers' tables, whilst Sutton and Laser Tools Racing top both Independents’ orders.
 
Carl Boardley performed brilliantly at Knockhill, flying the Team HARD flag with two overall points finishes and the Jack Sears Trophy honours across the three races. The BMW 1 Series driver moves into second in the JST, 14 points behind Michael Crees.
 
Turkington is currently leading the Goodyear Wingfoot Award – based on qualifying results – from Butcher and Cammish.
 
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship now enjoys a three-week break before resuming at Thruxton in Hampshire on 19/20 September.

Ash Sutton said: “I’m over the moon. I think I can honestly say this is the best ever touring car I’ve driven. 
 
“It’s good to get the win here for Laser Tools Racing. It’s fantastic to convert that pole into a win. Colin was there but we just managed to hold that sensible gap that we required so he couldn’t get a move in.
 
“Colin put some huge pressure in at the start (of race two) and I was always having to look in my mirrors. I defended probably four or five times more than I did in race one, so it definitely shifted to his favour. He made one slight error 3/4 of the way through the race, which just gave me that margin again to bring it home.
 
“It’s still very early doors, it’s only the fourth meeting of the season, so there’s a long way to go yet. But this was my prime time to do that, this weekend, and we’ve done exactly that in races one and two.”
 
Colin Turkington said: “It was nice to get race one up and running and get a good result in the bag. My car had very good pace in that race, but Ash would stretch his legs in the middle sector and then I’d catch him at the end, so I was never really in a perfect position to mount an attack. 
 
“[Race two] was very much like race one; the car’s evenly matched over the course of the run and I was at full tilt to try to stay with Ash and make a move, but he just has a bit more pace than us today. We went to other tracks where we’ve been stronger, but Ash has got it dialled maybe a bit better than us.  
 
“We’re at Knockhill in August which tricks your mind. It makes you think we’re nearing the end of the season but in any other year we’re really only at Oulton Park, we’re only four weekends in. I’m keeping that at the forefront of my mind and conscious just to keep scoring really good points. We’ve got a long season ahead, we go until mid-November which is a long way away.”
 
Rory Butcher said: “I felt after Oulton, Josh [Cook] drove so well in that race and I got handed the win; I didn’t want to take my first victory in the new car in that way. So to do what we just did there on home ground has made up for it. 
 
“I’m so pleased for the team. I’ve had quite a difficult day. I was really pleased with race one, making up one place and getting past Cammish was great, but in race two I wasn’t really proud of my performance there. I kind of overdrove and had to sit down after that and reset. 
 
“I’ve been getting superb starts this year, doing a lot of studying into how to launch the car best and I was confident going into that race that I could lead going into turn one.
 
“We’ve won on-the-road today and I’m so proud.”
 

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Knockhill

1          Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 27 laps
2          Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.350s
3          Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +3.541s
4          Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +4.037s
5          Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +5.215s
6          Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +6.049s
7          Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +8.683s
8          Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +8.983s
9          Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +10.237s
10        Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +12.457s

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Knockhill

1          Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 27 laps
2          Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.662s
3          Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +4.033s
4          Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +4.707s
5          Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +6.282s
6          Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +6.787s
7          Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +8.888s
8          Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +10.972s
9          Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +11.502s
10        Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +11.820s

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Knockhill

1          Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance 20 laps
2          Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +6.442s
3          Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +7.232s
4          Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +7.186s
5          Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +9.063s
6          Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +12.319s
7          Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +21.393s
8          Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +21.720s
9          Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +21.925s
10        Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +22.312s

Penalties:
Race 1: 
James Gornall was officially reprimanded, fined the sum of £500 and had his license endorsed by the addition of three penalty points for an incident involving Andy Neate

Race 2:
Bobby Thompson was excluded from the race result after his car failed post-race technical checks

Motorbase Performance's Rory Butcher scored a brilliant home win in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship finale, dominating the race after getting the jump by pole-sitter Senna Proctor.

The original race was red flagged following a sizeable accident involving Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance), Mike Bushell (Power Maxed Car Care Racing) and Sam Osborne (MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square). The rear-right wheel of Jackson's Ford Focus was locked, which ultimately spun his #48 machine through the chicane and in front of the oncoming traffic. Bushell had nowhere to go – hitting Jackson's Focus with some force – whilst Osborne side-swiped the Vauxhall Astra ahead of him while trying to take evasive action.

All drivers emerged relatively unscathed, but the race had to be stopped to remove the stricken cars and debris littered across the circuit.

Butcher – having originally got past Excelr8 Motorsport's Proctor on the first getaway – had to do it all again on the restart, and that's exactly what he did on the run down to turn one.

The Scotsman never looked back and he pulled away to take a comfortable victory, with the missing Scottish fans being the only disappointment for the talented racer.

"I felt after Oulton, Josh drove so well in that race and I got handed the win; I didn’t want to take my first victory in the new car in that way," said Butcher. "So to do what we just did there on home ground has made up for it. I’m so pleased for the team. I’ve had quite a difficult day. I was really pleased with race one, making up one place and getting past Cammish was great, but in race two I wasn’t really proud of my performance there.

"I’ve been getting superb starts this year, doing a lot of studying into how to launch the car best and I was confident going into that race that I could lead going into turn one.

"This event means so much to me. As soon as the calendar comes out it’s the event I’m looking forward to it and normally you get all the Scottish fans here. It really makes the venue have an incredible atmosphere. Unfortunately we didn’t have that today, but the Scottish marshals were waving the Scottish flag at the end of that race so I got a little buzz from that."

Similarly, Proctor took a relatively lonely second ahead of a delighted Tom Chilton – the BTC Racing driver scoring the 101st podium of his racing career.

The win would have been nice but today ultimately with the pace of the car P2 was okay," said Proctor. "We struggled in race one and two, but it’s another trophy for the car, which I was determined to do for the team to repay them for all their hard work. I’m happy with today’s work and I feel like we can roll on to Thruxton in a good place."

"We’re very very happy, it’s big news for us here at Knockhill this weekend," confirmed Chilton. "That was actually BTC Racing’s 102^nd race in the BTCC and my 101^st podium in my racing career. It was a big day today for us, we’re very happy."

Team BMW's Tom Oliphant grabbed fourth with a phenomenal move past Chris Smiley's Hyundai and Jake Hill rounded out his best day of the season so far with fifth in the MB Motorsport-run Honda Civic Type R. 

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish completed the top six, whilst the fading Smiley had to settle for seventh at the finish.

Smiley was often the cork in the bottle as the Northern Irishman had a host of contenders snapping at his heels. Team BMW's Colin Turkington and Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat swapped positions twice whilst both trying to get by Smiley, with Moffat eventually getting the better of the championship leader.

Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters' Tom Ingram completed the top ten positions ahead of double race-winner Ash Sutton in the other Laser Tools Infiniti.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Knockhill

1          Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance 20 laps
2          Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +6.442s
3          Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +7.232s
4          Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +7.186s
5          Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +9.063s
6          Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +12.319s
7          Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +21.393s
8          Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +21.720s
9          Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +21.925s
10        Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +22.312s
11        Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +22.516s
12        Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +22.987s
13        Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +24.598s
14        Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +25.833s
15        Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +26.066s
16        Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +26.721s
17        Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +29.535s
18        James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +29.718s
19        Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +30.321s
20       Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +33.579s
21        Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +34.205s
22        Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +37.796s
23        Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +20 laps
24        Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +20 laps
25        Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +20 laps