Paul O'Neill says he is looking to try and mix it with the factory Vauxhalls as the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Silverstone for the eighth round of the season.

After his podium heroics at Snetterton, O'Neill again impressed at Knockhill last time out as he secured another three top ten finishes for the small Team sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed team.

Despite being at the wheel of an older BTC-spec car, recent events have seen O'Neill punching above his weight as one of the quickest drivers on track and he will look to maintain that form to strengthen both his own - and the teams - championship position.

While he admits the pace of the Chevrolets will be hard to match after recent weekends, O'Neill said he felt confident of taking the fight to the likes of Fabrizio Giovanardi as he seeks to add to his Snetterton podium.

“With Anthony Reid coming back to the series, there is a real buzz going into the weekend and I think it's going to be a great spectacle for the fans watching on at the circuit and at home,” he said. “From our point of view, we need to try and get the car into the top eight in qualifying and then work on the strengths of the car, and Silverstone is a circuit where it should go well with five corners and two long straights.

“In the last two meetings, we've been one of the top three teams and we want to keep that going this weekend. The Chevrolet's will be hard to beat, but if we can mix it with the Vauxhall's then we'll be doing a good job and that is where I feel we should be. If we can get ourselves into the top six on race day, then we have a good chance of being on the podium if we play our cards right.

“Tech-Speed always provide a good car and its reliable, so we're going for the podium again and hopefully Martyn can also get himself into the top ten.”