Going up against 67 other drivers in the four-run hill climb, Butcher overcame a sluggish start to steer his Formula Vee Stinger to a comfortable one second victory over Adam Single in the Subaru WRX 2.5 litre turbo.

 

With lots of rain in the lead up causing the track to be slippery, Butcher wasn’t the only one to struggle on the opening run, but still fell short of the fastest time. Once the track dried up though, the veteran clicked into gear to post a personal best of 73.30 seconds on the third run in the A3 course formation.

 

Despite being unable to better his time on his last attempt, Single could only improve on his own time ever so slightly, which ultimately handed the victory to Butcher.

There was nothing separating the next two highest ranked competitors as Ford Focus RS driver Dylan Gerrish and Garry Christopherson in the Westfield SE shared the spoils for third place as both drivers ended the day with a 75.72 second best run. 

Interestingly, Gerrish posted the fastest outright first run time, but could only marginally improve as the day went on, recording his fastest time on his last attempt to equal Christopherson, who picked up his best time on his second run of the day.

 

Rounding out the top five was Rick Vincent in the Lotus Elise 111R with a time of 75.83 seconds.

 

Following on from his first victory of the year, Butcher was thrilled to come away with top honours and a personal best for that particular course formation.

 

“It’s always good to win an event as it helps your ego, but deep down I know the competition wasn’t as strong as it could have been. I know I performed well, but I just had to remind myself that I am not good as I think I am,” Butcher said.

 

“With that said, it’s always good to win, especially on a day where the people were good, the weather was nice and we could just go out and have fun again.

“There was a lot of rain before the event, so the track was quite wet and I couldn’t get the opening run right, but then the track dried up and everyone got quicker.

 

“I concentrated a bit harder and pushed a bit harder and that third run was a really good one because it was the fastest time I have ever done around that particular course formation.

 

“It was also nice to win in a Formula Vee. It’s not like it’s the quickest car out there, so that was a major bonus too. What’s great is that this is the second time that I have started a year off with a win in a Formula Vee.”

 

The MG Car Club of Newcastle’s is back in action later this month as it hosts the first round of the Motorsport Australia New South Wales Motorkhana Championship at Awabawac Park on 14 February.