Chris Butcher Motorsport

Chris has been involved in rallying since a very young age. He was taken to his 1st event- a local special stage rally - by his Father, also a succesful co-driver (Andy Butcher) when he was just 6 months old. Now, aged 24, Chris has become one of the UK's hottest co-driving prospects. As a young child Chris had an interest in cars and helped his father whenever he could; be it on rallies or just in the garage. Chris couldn't wait for the day when he could finally compete for himself.

2001/2006

During these years, Chris learnt the basics of rally navigation by co-driving for his father on 12-cars and Road Rallies. This gave Chris sound knowledge of navigational techniques and map reading which would become vital in his quest to become a successful co-driver. Chris' talent as a co-driver was proved by winning his car club Road Rally championship in 2005.

2002 / 2003

Aged 16, Chris competed on his 1st Stage rally- the 2002 Fat Albert Stages in a Datsun Sunny and has never looked back. 2003 saw Chris compete on a couple of events- however, due to college commitments, events were few and far between.

2004 / 2005

Throughout 2004 and 2005, word was getting around that Chris was quickly becoming a very competent co-driver and as such, many drivers offering him the chance to co-drive on a multitude of events. By the end of 2005, Chris was awarded 2^nd under 21 competitor in the Cotswold Motor Sport Group (CMSG) stage rally championship, as well as being 10^th overall and 3^rd in class B (upto 1600cc).

2006

2006 saw Chris winning trophies on nearly every event he competed in. At the end of the season, Chris was the CSMG 2006 under 21 Champion. Unfortunately a retirement on the last event of the season prevented Chris finishing 4^th overall so he finally finished 6^th overall and 2^nd in Class A (upto 1400cc).

Chris was now attracting the attention of some the fastest and well known drivers in the UK, meaning that his name frequently appeared at the top of the results list. Winning the championship went from being a dream to a realistic possibility. 

2007

After achieving many top 10 overall results in 2007, everything looked towards a championship win. However, a retirement late in the season meant he ended up 3^rd overall in the championship, 3^rd in class C (upto 2000cc) and, for the 2^nd year in a row, under 21 champion.

2008

2008 got off to a brilliant start with Chris finishing 1^st overall at the Southdowns Stages at Goodwood. Co-driving for Simon Mauger, in his rapid 2.0 MK2 Escort, they took the win by over 1 minute from a Ford Focus World Rally Car (WRC). Next event planned was the Abingdon CAR-nival stages, again co-driving for Simon, at Dalton Barracks in Oxfordshire. However this time, the Escort had a 2.4 Vauxhall powered engine with around 300bhp installed. The entry list was full of WRC's and Metro 6R4's and a few other rapid Escorts but the aim was to finish 1st 2wd and attempt a class win. The end result... 2^nd overall and 1^st 2wd. Even after losing 30 seconds due to a spin on the 3^rd stage, the winning Subaru WRC only won by 20 seconds. This was another great result and a brilliant boost for Chris' career!

2009

2009 started slowly with Chris competing on only 1 event- the Southdowns Stages based at Goodwood – the event that he took his maiden win at in 2008. His original entry was with Simon Mauger in his 2.4 Escort, seeded car 1, hoping to repeat the previous years result. Unfortunately due to late gearbox problems the crew had to withdraw. Less then 4 hours later, Chris was contacted and a seat was secured with Mark Holmes in his 2.0 Escort. This time seeded car 27, the crew finished 11^th overall and 3^rd in class. In late March, Chris also competed at the Patriot Stages at Caerwent in a 1400 Ford KA. Unfortunately a broken driveshaft on second stage put the crew out of contention and finished 42^nd overall and 5^th in class A.

There were more competitive outings for the 2^nd half of the 2009 season, with Chris sitting with the likes of Simon Mauger and rapid Mark II Escort driver Rob Dennis. Towards the end of the 2009 season, Chris was battling for overall championship honours and a win on the final event saw him crowned the 2009 Cotswold Stage Rally champion as well as under 25 champion.

2010

The 2010 season saw Chris teaming up with Simon for an attack at the MSA National Asphalt Championship and BTRDA rally series in a freshly built 2.5 Mark II Escort. A win at the Southdowns Stages in Jan and then a fantastic 3rd overall on the National Tarmac rally - The Tour of Epynt (Chris' 1st attempt at a national rally and on pace-notes) was a fantastic start to the season. This followed by a memorable win on the Tour of Caerwent in Wales (Voted the hardest single venue rally in the UK) and then another win the Abingdon CAR-nival Stages saw Chris racking in the trophies.

A difficult run on the Rally of The Midlands, saw the crew take 3rd overall on another national rally (after leading for most of the event) and midway through the season saw Chris lying 6th overall in the National Championship and 1st in Class. A quiet 2nd half to the season saw Chris sit out the remainder of the National series due to purchasing a house, however he used this time effectively. A run on the Mini-Epynt Stages and helping novices on single venue rallies, along with refining his skills on pace-note making and other navigational skills, Chris was preparing himself for what could be a very busy 2011 season!

2011

To kick start the 2011 season, first on Chris' agenda was a day at the Nicky Grist Co-driver academy at the end of January. Here, Chris was able to learn and refine his skills from a former World Rally Champion co-driver.

2 weekends later saw Chris competing on the 'Wyedean Forest Stage Rally' in the Forest of Dean in a 2.5 Mark II Escort with local driver Tim Freeman. The crew finished a superb 1st in class and 45th overall.

2 weekends after the Wyedean, Chris and Tim also contested the 'Rally-Marketing Mid-Wales Stages' based in Newton, Powys. Here the crew finished 2nd in class and 23rd overall.

For the remainder of the season Chris will be competing with the Revolution Wheels / TEG Sport Rally Team, co-driving for Revolution Wheels Managing Director - Warren Mckiernan. The crew will be piloting a Group A N12 Subaru Impreza in the BTRDA Gold Star gravel championship.

Saturday 16th April, Chris made his debut competing with Revolution Wheels Rally Team, co-driving for Warren McKiernan. The were seeded 78/140 and finished the event 38th overall and 8th in class. The day was all about learning and the crew finished very happy with their performance and are now looking forward to the rest of the season!

At the start of June, Chris joined Revolution Wheels as an employee running the day to day aspect of the business. With business booming and relocating 100 miles north, the rallying took a bit of a back seat, however with 2012 getting ever closer, Chris is now aiming to get back out on the stages soon!