RORY BUTCHER says he and his Toyota Gazoo Racing UK team are aiming to finish with a flourish after an action-packed penultimate Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) weekend.

The 36-year-old Fife race ace and his team-mates, along with Kelty's rising Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 Motorsport star, Ronan Pearson, battled challenging and changeable weather conditions at Silverstone.

Butcher, who progressed through into the 'top ten showdown' after qualifying, going on to secure a starting position of ninth, contributed to his team emerging with a manufacturers' trophy as they posted a solid set of points finishes.

Kirkcaldy native Butcher, who has worked as an instructor at Knockhill Racing Circuit, snatched sixth place on the final lap of race one, before putting himself into podium contention in the next.

However, after an energetic and entertaining scrap, he just missed out, bringing his Toyota Corolla home in fourth place, before his chances of another top six finish in race three were ended when he was collected as collateral damage in somebody else's accident.

"The top three had built up such a gap early on that it was impossible to get near the podium spots, but we made progress and that was very encouraging," Butcher said of race one.

"Race two was fun, with a lot of enjoyable battles. Fourth was a very solid finish and the car felt great.

"I felt like we had the pace on a few of the guys starting in front of us again in race three so the goal was to keep it clean, be assertive and make up some more ground, but obviously that wasn’t to be through no fault of our own.

"Still, it was nice to show our speed in both the dry and the wet at Silverstone, and now we’ll look to take that form forward with us into the final weekend of the season."

Pearson, who has agreed an extended deal with his team to remain with them for the next two seasons, was 14th in qualifying but finished down the standings in 24th after the opening contest.

The 21-year-old, however, rallied in the next two, finishing 11th and fifth respectively, and remains in contention for the Jack Sears Trophy.

An accolade won previously by Butcher, it is named after the BTCC's first-ever champion, and is open to all drivers who, at the start of the season, hadn't recorded an overall podium finish, or won the Jack Sears Trophy, previously.

In the overall drivers' standings, Butcher remains 10th and Pearson is 17th with the 2023 BTCC season concluding at Brands Hatch GP over the weekend of October 7-8.