Jack Butel continues to build MSA Formula momentum at Donington Park

Jersey driver Jack Butel took another step forward in the second round of the highly competitive MSA Formula Championship at Donington Park last weekend (18/19 April). Jack’s racing education continued against some of the greatest young racing talent in the world and he left the Leicestershire venue with three solid race finishes (14th, 12th and 13th) and more importantly got closer to the lucrative top ten runners.On the Friday evening before racing commenced at Donington, Jack was among several professional drivers invited to open the brand new Daytona Motorsport karting circuit in nearby Tamworth. Showing his former karting prowess, Butel qualified his team comprising of sponsors, media and officials in fifth place. He later helped his team finish in the same position at the end of the multi-driver endurance event.The next day, attention switched back to Butel’s main focus, the FIA approved MSA Formula Championship, which supports the hugely popular British Touring Car Championship. The Jerseyman was to struggle in the short qualifying session on Saturday morning, finishing 20th – with transmission and set-up issues being cited as the main problems for the disappointing result.Putting qualifying behind him, the former De La Salle student showed great promise in the opening contest of the weekend. Under glorious sunshine, Jack launched his single-seater off the line with great effect as he picked off two competitors in the opening sector of the first lap. Gaining confidence, Butel began to rein in the pack in the closing stages and he made a decisive pass on two rivals as they squabbled amongst themselves. Jack started the maneuver going into turn one at Redgate with the young-gun sealing the deal on the descent down the iconic Craner Curves. At the fall of the flag Butel netted 14th, showing his impressive racecraft in the process.A bumper crowd on Sunday morning witnessed Jack line-up 13th for the second race of the weekend. Making another positive start, the St Saviour resident, settled down into the race – pounding around the 1.96 mile venue in the turbocharged Ford Eco-Boost powered single seater on the cusp of the top ten. Unfortunately Jack couldn’t progress as much as he had hoped – settling for 12th at the end of the 20-minute race duration.The final race of the day was to be run in front of thousands of spectators lining the banks and hundreds of thousands watching at home with ITV4 providing live television coverage. The grid for the third race was taken from drivers second best qualifying time on Saturday. This meant another momentous task for the 19-year-old as he had to start towards the back of the grid after a difficult qualifying session the previous day. Undeterred, the Channel Islander flew out of the blocks in the SWB Motorsport prepared machine and quickly carved his way through the pack, as other rivals faulted around him. As the race distance diminished, due largely to a lengthy safety car period, Butel could do no more in the time available and notched up 13th in the final race of the weekend.As the crowd filtered out of the circuit under the flight path of East Midlands Airport, Jack reflected on his weekend’s performance:“It was gutting to experience gearbox and clutch issues during qualifying which limited our performance and compromised the weekend.  SWB Motorsport did a great job to resolve the issues and I had a car that I could use to cut through the pack come the races.“I was able to push on as the weekend progressed and I was happy with my starts as I made up positions in every race and I felt I took a step forward in race performance this weekend as well.“ I can’t wait for the next round at Thruxton – it’s an amazing circuit, really quick and so much fun to drive. It’s flat out! I am hoping we can break into the top ten like we did in testing a few weeks ago.“ We are going in the right direction with our pace and I hope the mechanical gremlins disappear so I can push on for a good result in three weeks time.”The next stop on the MSA Formula Championship calendar is the fastest circuit in the UK – The high-speed Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire on May 9/10. Jack and the team are looking for a strong showing at the former aerodrome, having completed a successful test there earlier this month.


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