GORDON SHEDDEN believes a partisan home crowd this weekend can help him build momentum and accelerate towards retaining his British Touring Car Championship crown.

Approximately 15,000 motorsport fans are set to descend on Knockhill as round seven of the BTCC rolls into West Fife and last year's winner believes that they can help give him an edge over his title rivals.

With four race weekends remaining, 'Flash' goes into battle at his home circuit sitting fourth in the drivers' standings, and 26 points behind leader Rob Collard, after a stunning last-gasp victory in his last outing.

Shedden, Knockhill's business development manager, had already recorded second and 10th place finishes at Snetterton on July 31 when, in the final race of the day, he stormed to a superb final-lap win that he said augurs well for the remainder of the championship.

Speaking to Press Sport, he commented: "It was a nice way to finish and it was good to leave Snetterton with my tail in the air. It was important to get the momentum going again because we've had a few dramas so far, so it was nice to get a clean weekend under our belts and make some inroads. The way it has worked out means I'm less points off the lead at this stage then I was this time last year, so that is a positive.

"We've thrown a lot of points away and of course everyone wants to beat the champion, so there has been a bit of roughing up. The car has been really good – although possibly a little shy in horsepower – but we are still pushing boundaries. It is really competitive and we need to keep moving forward."

Turning his thoughts to Knockhill, two-time champion Shedden continued: "It will be fantastic; the crowd are always enthusiastic and they do give me an extra edge. I wouldn't say I would have an advantage in terms of speed around the track because it's at Knockhill though because a professional driver should master a track after around six laps.

"We're at the business end of the season now and there are still 12 races left, so there's a lot of racing to come. I've got to be in the mix and I want to get to the last round with a chance. If I do that then you never know but I'll certainly be giving it a good go this weekend, and hopefully the crowd will see a Scottish win or two."

As well as two days of hammer-and-tongs racing, fans attending Knockhill this weekend will also be able to watch an excellent support line-up featuring Porsche, Ginetta sports cars and MSA Formula Championship single seaters.

There will also be an additional treat for spectators as AlcoSense, the UK's largest manufacturer of consumer alcohol testers, will be giving away a single use breathalyser to the first 7,500 through the gate - a total of £22,500 worth of breathalysers.

Tickets for this weekend are still available and for more information, visit www.knockhill.com/events/british-touring-car-championship.