Tag Archives: Rory Butcher

Equipe 6 Hour – Donington Park – July 2025

July 24, 2025 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Rory Butcher, Ben Tinkler and Ben Barker claim inaugural Equipe 6 hour glory aboard their Lotus Elan 26R in what proved to be an excellent new addition to the British Historic Racing calendar.

Attracting a decent entry is always a worry when a new event is brought to the fore but thankfully the inaugural running of the Equipe 6 hours at Donington Park was very warmly received with a fantastic 32 glorious pre-66 machines lining up for the start of the race.

Mirroring the format of the very successful Spa 6 hours, but crucially not allowing the all conquering GT40, a plethora of Lotus Elans and MGB’s would make up the bulk of the entry but with a couple of Cobras and Healey’s, amongst others, thrown in for good measure. And with a great mix of drivers too (the Equipe regulars being joined by a fair few professionals) we were set for one hell of an afternoon’s racing.

And it would be one of the pro’s in the form of ex-BTCC race winner, Rory Butcher, aboard the front row starting #40 Elan 26R who would lead the early running as the pole sitting #600 similar machine of John Tordoff dropped back. Instead it would be the AC Cobra Daytona Coupe of Jeremy Cottingham and the Elan 26R Shapecraft of Michael O’Brien who would take the fight to the Scotsman in the early stages.

However, neither the Shapecraft or Cobra Daytona would make it to half distance which left the JCT backed pole sitting Elan the mostly likely challenger with a clearly fired up Andrew Jordan dragging them right back into contention; this after an early puncture enforced a second pitstop within the first quarter of the race.

Indeed the former British Touring Car Champion was able to lap much quicker than Tinkler (who had taken over from Butcher in the race leading Elan) during the second stint and had closed the gap significantly before both machines headed for their mandatory 5 minute fuel stop at around half distance.

Current Toyota BTCC driver James Dorlin would take over the reigns from Jordan whilst Ben Barker had found a gap in his World Endurance Championship exploits to fill the hot seat of the erstwhile leaders. And with drivers of this calibre at the head of the field it was no surprise to find them continue to pull away from the rest of the pack but with the gap remaining relatively constant between themselves.

A safety car with just over 1 hour and 25 minutes remaining would however give both crews the perfect opportunity to make their final stop. Butcher and Jordan would be re-installed in the respective #40 and #600 Elans for the final stint but as the track returned to green it became apparent that the long time leaders had gained almost a lap on the rivals as the safety car pitstops unwound.

Jordan was not about to give up on victory however but try as he might, with plenty of sideways moments along the way, it was all too much to ask as Butcher put in a sublime final stint to take victory by almost 1 minute. With confirmation, if ever it were needed, that it was the #40 Elan’s day when the car came to halt on the slowing down lap! Talk about timing! A thoroughly deserved victory however as I am not sure Butcher, Tinkler and Barker put a foot wrong throughout the entire 6 hours!

Such was the pace of the two leading crews that third place car of Connor Kay, Ben Caisley and Dominic Mooney would end the event some 10 laps in arrears in their similar Elan 26R! However third place overall would have seemed like a pipe dream after the trio were delayed early on after an issue with a brake overflow tank saw them receive the dreaded meatball flag!

Fourth home would be the leading AM crew in the form of Nick Sleep and Alex Montgomery after a brilliant drive aboard the fabulous “Hairy Canary”. In fact the AC Cobra crew were right in the mix for large parts of the race but with the necessity for a second 5 minute fuel stop and a few wayward moments would drop back. 4th overall representing one hell of an effort by the two driver crew however as they Man handled the American Brute through the event’s 6 hour duration.

A few wayward moments would be understatement of the year for the fifth place crew of Rob Cull, Gerry Buggy and Tom Smith. Cull had been running in the top 5 before an off at McLeans within the first hour brought out the safety car and dropped the #46 Elan to 25th. This was just the beginning however as the car would find itself in the same gravel trap on at least 3 more occasions before the day was out. All the more remarkable then that Cull, Buggy and Smith would claim the AM runner up spot. It must have been some drive between the offs and perhaps a case of what might have been!

Elsewhere Simon, Dan and Andrew Smith would complete the AM podium in yet another Elan with 6th whilst Bruce Duckworth, Graham Hill and Jamie Mason would claim an excellent 7th aboard the leading MGB. Meanwhile Mike Thorne, Sarah Bennett-Baggs and John Todd would come home 8th in the leading Austin Healey whilst Tim Mogridge and Nicholas King would end the day in 11th in their Triumph TR4 despite a lengthy visit to the Old Hairpin gravel trap in the final quarter of the race.

What an event this had been! I absolutely love the fact that the general public were granted free access to the pre-event grid walk and that the category winning machines were wheeled into Garage 39 for the post event party! It would have been nice to see a few more marques represented (TVR Griffiths and Jag E-Type come to mind) but that’s just splitting hairs! A big thank you to Rob and John for brining this awesome event to the UK. If the competitors enjoyed it half as much as I did then we should see the event go from strength to strength in years to come.

FULL RESULTS

GALLERY

Motor Racing Legends

Motor Racing Legends – Silverstone – October 2022

October 28, 2022 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

The Motor Racing Legends Silverstone GP event had a bit of an end of season feel to it, but definitely not in a bad way! More that it was run in a very relaxed manner and had attracted a fair share of current and ex professional drivers to grids. Indeed the entry list for the main event, The Pall Mall Trophy race for Pre-66 GT and Pre-61 Sports Cars, contained the likes of Phil Keen, Oliver Webb, Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan, George Gamble and Rory Butcher to name but a few.

And it was British GT legend, Keen, who would play a starring roll in the 3 hour Pall Mall Trophy race, setting fastest lap on the very last tour aboard the James Thorpe E-Type, to claim a dominant victory of over 1 lap. That’s not to undersell the performance of Thorpe and Phil Quaife however who handed the car over to Keen with an already mammoth lead; in part due to a clever early first mandatory stop under safety car conditions and a relatively early retirement for the pole sitting Michael Birch / Gareth Burnett / Richard Bradley Lotus 15.

Whilst the entry was a little light of contenders for overall victory, this was more than made up for by the battles behind. The tussle for the final steps of the podium being one example as Mark Farmer and Andrew Jordan (aboard the JRT built Elan) somehow managed to claim the runner up spot despite clutch issues throughout the second half of the race. Possibly aided by a late safety car, the pairing just managed to hold off the chasing Harry Barton / Oliver Reuben TVR Griffith who themselves put in an excellent drive to take the final podium position.

The highlight of the race in many respects though was the epic Porsche 911 fight for positions in the midfield. Usually found in their own Peter Auto organised standalone event, several more examples (most of them Tuthill prepared) than usual had found their way onto the Silverstone Pall Mall Trophy grid.

Witnessing the likes of Rory Butcher, Oliver Webb, Seb Perez and George Gamble man-handle the classic German machines around the famous Northamptonshire Circuit was highly entertaining, and as expected the racing remained pretty close with the fortunes of the individual crews fluctuating throughout the 3 hour duration of race, often dependent on how the “AM” drivers were utilised.

In the latter stages, class victory looked to be heading the way of the William Paul / Rory Butcher machine, however a 3 minute penalty for a refuelling infringement put pay to that! This left Guy Ziser, Oliver Webb and Richard Tuthill himself to take class 3c victory with 9^th overall in the #777 machine, just 2 seconds ahead of the Christian Coll / Bonamy Grimes car! More of these machines to be run in the UK please!!

Earlier in the day, courtesy of heavy overnight rain, the combined grid of Historic / Sixties Touring Car Challenge cars faced the age old dilemma of Slicks or Wets for their 1 hour race (where regulations allow). And whilst wets were probably the tyre of choice over the early laps, it was the slick shod Skyline of Ric Wood which held the advantage as the race progressed; the Cheshire man eventually finishing 50 seconds ahead of the similar machine of Jonathan Bailey / Andy Middlehurst.

No such tyre choice was available for the Lotus Cortina runners making up the U2TC element of the grid and they were as spectacular as ever over the early laps. There wasn’t much to choose between the field, but the experience of Mike Gardiner combined with current BTCC ace Josh Cook paid dividends in the end as the #37 crew came out on top with an excellent 10^th overall.

Much like last year, spectator attendance was ridiculously low, which I struggle to get my head around given tickets were only £16 and people seem more than happy to spend a small fortune on Goodwood or the Silverstone Classic each year! But this is only good news from my perspective due to lack of heavy handed security Silverstone love to employ and the full availability of the various catch fencing holes!

The grids may not have been quite as strong as 2021 but you can’t really grumble at 30 cars in each of the 2 historic races on offer, especially during the current economic crisis. Overall a great way to end my Circuit racing schedule for the year with just the Malton Forest and Cadwell Park rallies remaining.

GALLERY

Uncategorized

Astons Star in Oulton Opener

April 10, 2015 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Beechdean AMR pairing Jonny Adam and Andrew Howard ensured Aston Martin claimed both British GT opening round victories at Oulton Park following the success of Oman Racing Team duo Rory Butcher and Liam Griffin earlier in the day.

OmanRacing_WU

Howard_R2

As is tradition, the 2015 British GT Championship kicked off on Easter weekend with the opening two rounds of the championship taking place at Oulton Park; free practice and qualifying taking place on Saturday with the races following on Easter Monday.

After 6 months away from the race circuits, the years first sound of a Grand Touring car never fails to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. Witnessing the 34 car cast of the 2015 rendition of the series thunder up Deer Leap during the opening moments of free practice 1 brought a smile to my face; it is difficult to argue against the view that this is the best national GT series on the planet.

Whilst missing some of the GT3 variety of previous seasons, there being no Porsche, Audi, Bentley or Nissan presence on the grid, a much bigger GT4 field more than fills the void. Two fully competitive classes is exactly what the doctor ordered which should both be ultra competitive following some changes in the regulations for 2015. Reiterating that Amateur drivers have a key part to play was made clear by the banning of gold/silver crews and, similar to the Blancpain series, ensuring Bronze drivers enjoy more track time in free practice sessions. British GT is now a strictly Gold/Bronze, Silver/Silver driver combination series.

Free Practice / Qualifying

Friday rain had left the crews facing a damp track for the first free practice session where Jon Minshaw made the most of the drying conditions to go quickest with his final lap of the session. The Demon Tweeks man, once again paired with the rapid Phil Keen and this year in a Barwell Motorsport BMW, will be many peoples favourites for the title; the duo quickest again in the fully dry 2nd session to reiterate this view.

As is often the case though, qualifying did not follow suit with the ten minute sessions giving little time to string together the perfect lap. While Minshaw was only able to register 9th quickest time, Liam Griffin in the Oman Racing Team Aston Martin claimed pole for race 1 with a scintillating 1:35:858. Dave Bartrum appearing to have pulled off another master stroke of a driver signing following the loss of Michael Caine as a result of the driver grading regulation changes.

Race 2 qualifying saw the Pros take to the wheel for what promised to be a classic 10 minute showdown starring the likes of A1 GP winner Adam Carroll in the FF Corse Ferrari and BMW works driver Alexander Sims in the Ecurie Ecosse Z4. It was Jonny Adam however who starred, claiming pole with a stonking time of 1:33:877 on his first flying lap and showing exactly why he is a works Aston Martin employee. The FF Corse Ferrari would join the Scotsman on the front row to match the efforts of team-mate Gary Eastwood in the earlier AM session with the BMWs of Phil Keen and Alexander Sims filling row 2.

Just like the predicted weather forecast race day was set to be a cracker with the remainder of the top ten separated by less than a second!

SATURDAY PICS

RACE 1

In what is becoming a more and more popular series with the fans, large crowds had gathered to take in the race-day action. And with the sun yet to burn through, it was pole sitter, Liam Griffin, who maintained his advantage after an early safety car period with Gary Eastwood, Andrew Howard and Andrew Watson in hot pursuit.

Race1Start

From fifth position on the grid, Watson in the #10 Von Ryan Mclaren had made an excellent start, getting as high as second before going off the road at Island bend following an over enthusiastic attempt for the lead on lap 7; An unfortunate end to what could have been a race winning car.

Griffin was not able to break away however and the top ten were covered by Just a handful of seconds before carnage broke out. The delayed #12 Von Ryan McLaren seemed determined to have a say in the outcome of the meeting, causing the leading group to bunch up as they tried to put another lap on the 650s. And just as Andrew Howard thought he was getting passed at Hislops chicane Salih Yoluc turned in on the Wycombe Wanderers Chairman sending the Aston into the tyre wall, with Ahmad Al Harthy also becoming caught up in the incident. Both were out of the race and the safety car was deployed for the second time.

Meanwhile a big accident had occurred on the run down to Cascades. Alistair McKinnon in the RAM Racing Mercedes tagged the Derek Johnston piloted TF Sport Aston in an attempted passing manoeuvre causing both cars to head to for the crash barriers at high speed; the Aston Martin bouncing back across the track and left stranded in the middle of the road. The two following Barwell BMW’s had nowhere to go; Minshaw running into the back of Attard as he braked hard in an attempt to avoid the stricken TF Sport machine. Somehow Attard was able to get the Ecurie Ecosse machine back to the pits, however Minshaw, Johnston and McKinnon were all additions to the retirements list!

Race1Carnage

With the pit window now open several crews took the opportunity to get their Pro drivers behind the wheel under saferty car conditions and remarkably Adam Carroll, now in the FF Corse Ferrari, managed to steel a march on the Oman Racing Aston of Rory Butcher to emerge from the pitlane in the lead of the race, with Joe Osborne in the Triple Eight Racing BMW now in third.

FFCorse_R1

Indeed it was the white BMW who looked most likely to challenge for victory when the track returned to green with just 16 minutes remaining. In fact Osborne was soon passed Butcher and in pursuit of the 458, however GT4 traffic would soon catch out the BMW pilot allowing Butcher back into second. And with the order remaining the same at the chequered flag it seemed the Italian Marque had taken victory.

However several hours after the race, Carroll and Eastwood were demoted to second following a successful appeal by the Oman Racing Team squad; the FF Corse Ferrari penalised for blocking the #6 Aston as it exited the pits, leaving Butcher and Griffin to take maximum opening round points.

Meanwhile in GT4 it was the #50 Optimum Racing Ginetta of Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson who emerged victorious following a battle with the #407 Beechdean Aston and the similar car of Terry Langley and Mike Hart. Alongside Ross Gunn, second place represented a great result for 16 year old Jamie Chadwick on her British GT debut.

RACE 2

With Oulton Park now basking in glorious afternoon sunshine it was pole man Jonny Adam who lead the field away, with FF Corse Ferrari pilot Adam Carroll heading the chase from the Demon Tweeks BMW of Phil Keen and the LNT Ginetta of Mike Simpson.

Carroll was on a charge, and perhaps keen to make up for his race one penalty managed to pass the Beechdean Aston early on in the stint at Old Hall. Adam would not have been too concerned however, knowing the Italian car faced a 15 second longer pitstop courtesy of their race one ‘victory’; the Scotsman managing to keep the Northern Irishman in sight throughout the remainder of his stint.

The Demon Tweeks BMW had been holding a strong third place, but would find itself in the wrong place at the wrong time again on lap 14; this time taken out by the Preci Spark Mercedes of Godfrey Jones and ending race 2 in the Cascades gravel trap. Things can only get better for the Barwell prepared machine.

Following the lead team pitstops it was, as anticipated, the Beechdean Aston, now in the hands of Andrew Howard who assumed the lead of the race, with Lee Mowle in the Triple Eight BMW, Liam Griffin’s Oman Racing Aston and Steve Tandy’s LNT Ginetta just behind; the FF Corse Ferrari dropping to sixth as a result of the success penalty.

But just as it looked like being a close fight to the finish, Howard, Mowle and Griffin were all judged guilty of short pit stops and given drive through penalties as a result. This appeared to put Tandy in the driving seat for victory, however, such was Andrew Howard’s pace in the afternoon sunshine that he managed to maintain the lead!

And so while Howard cruised to victory, Tandy was left left to fight a rear guard action against the fast approaching Ecurie Ecosse BMW of 2014 champion Marco Attard and the recovering Liam Griffin. But try as Attard and Griffin might there was no way through leaving the LNT Ginetta to take a fine 2nd place.

Race2Battle

Further back the Issy Racing Lotus Evora made up for being caught out by the safety car in race 1 by utterly dominating the GT4 class in race 2. Oz Yusuf and Gavan Kershaw finished the race in 12th place overall with a class winning margin of 26 seconds over round 1 winners Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson.

RACE-DAY PICS

And so after 2 rounds it is the new Oman Racing Team pairing of Rory Butcher and Liam Griffin that lead the championship courtesy of a win and a fourth place. I am not sure many would have predicted this outcome at the start of the weekend but on this evidence they are likely to be title contenders. As expected the racing around the tight Cheshire track was close, with driving standards at times dubious and on occasion shocking. It was good to see the #12 Von Ryan Racing McLaren excluded from the meeting for blatant ignorance of the blue flags and generally causing chaos. This is Sportscar racing Mr Yoluc, the Touring cars were at Brands Hatch!

Next up for the British GT teams is a trip to Rockingham for a 2 hour mini endurance race around the Northamptonshire track. I however will most likely catch them at Silverstone for round 4 in late May where I will be hoping the wider track will create racing more akin to round 2 than round 1.