Fifer Rory Butcher fired up for Porsche assault
Celtic Speed team leader Rory Butcher heads to the next double-header in the Porsche Carrera Cup still smarting from events in the opening rounds at Brands Hatch.
The 26-year-old from Kirkcaldy had moved up to second in the opening race,. But as he approached Turn 1, his Porsche Carrera Cup GT3 car was spat into a spin by Daniel LLoyd.
"I was ahead of Lloyd, in second place, and had a gap to him going into the first corner," Butcher explained.
"At the apex point he just came from so far back and tagged my rear wheel. The impact spun me a full 360-degrees into the gravel: he went into the gravel as well.
"He got stuck, but I managed to keep the car rolling and rejoined the circuit.
"Thankfully the safety car was deployed because Lloyd was stuck, and that allowed the guys to put a new wheel on my car — the impact had taken the valve off the wheel — and get me back out before the safety car came round.
"I then had to race round the track for a couple of laps to catch the back of the field while they were still behind the safety car.
"It meant when the race started, I was 12th, but I managed to fight my way back through to fourth.
And just when Butcher was on course again for a second place in the second race, his car suffered tyre problems.
"I started really well and was quite aggressive through the opening few corners," Butcher explained, "and had moved my way up from fourth to second midway through the opening lap.
"Everything felt really good. I was pushing hard and tried to hunt down the leader.
"But I made a little mistake, locked-up the front right under braking going into Paddock HIll, and it caused me to run a little wide on to the dirty part of the track.
"I lost a lot of exit speed and that allowed Jonas Gelzinas and Michael Meadows to get passed.
"Meadows and I actually touched on the exit and he spun off, while I managed to keep it on the track.
"I just had to regroup, get my head down and push on again. But I had exactly the same issue as in Race 1: I was struggling with the front right locking up.
"It did it a few times, especially going into Paddock Hill Bend. That's what forced me wide again and allowed Lloyd to get passed me. So I had to settle for fourth again.
"It ended up being a disappointing couple of races because the car was really good all weekend, and we just struggled with that front right tyre, which continued to lock up.
"It really hurt me in Race 2 because I was all set to be battling for the lead, then one little run wide — caused by the tyre problem — at one corner, and the next thing is I'm getting mugged.
"But we know we have a fast car and I'm confident we'll deliver the results at Donington once we conquer the problem with the front tyre."
In the Pro-Am1 class, Edinburgh's George Brewster finished on the top step of the podium in Race 1 before retiring in Race 2.
© Celtic Speed 2026
