THE British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) may be parked until the end of the month but Rory Butcher will still be going full throttle this weekend.

The 34-year-old, whose dad, Derek, is CEO and owner of Knockhill Racing Circuit, is going racing this weekend in a different context as he seeks to thrill fans at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend.

Joined by Toyota Gazoo Racing UK team-mates Sam Smelt and James Cole, as well as several rivals from the BTCC, Butcher will attempt to tackle a 1.16-mile hillclimb at the venue – close to the famous racecourse – in the quickest time.

The festival, which began on Thursday and runs until today, has been a fixture on the British motorsport calendar since 1993 and attracts legendary cars, bikes and drivers in a celebration of motorsport.

Butcher, who set the fastest lap time in the most recent BTCC race at Brands Hatch and reached the rostrum at Snetterton earlier in the campaign, will be behind the wheel of the Toyota Corolla GR Sport at the event, which has been given dispensation to go ahead with a full crowd as part of a Government pilot programme.

"I'm really looking forward to the weekend," he explained.

"I haven’t been to Goodwood before but I’ve obviously heard a lot about it and everybody I know that has been always waxes lyrical about the Festival of Speed and has been telling me I’ve got to try it.

"I’ve got a bit of a background in classic motorsport too and have ambitions to race at the (Goodwood) Revival meeting (in September) so it will be fantastic to take a peek at all the beautiful cars on show from the sport’s different disciplines and eras and to go for a stroll down memory lane.

"It’ll be fun to be part of the Shootout and, being the BTCC, I’m sure it’ll soon get pretty competitive and no-holds-barred! Hopefully, I can do the team and Toyota GB proud, while doing my bit to send the fans home with smiles on their faces after being deprived of live motorsport for so long."