HOME hero Gordon Shedden kept his British Touring Car Championship title hopes firmly in the fast lane thanks to a late Knockhill flourish on Sunday.

The 38-year-old remains in the race to win a third successive BTCC crown after giving his army of fans at his home track what they wanted by grabbing a second place in the final race of the weekend's action.

With just three race weekends of the season remaining, 'Flash' is 12 points adrift of championship leader Colin Turkington, who secured a hat-trick of podium finishes on Shedden's patch.

The Halfords Yuasa Racing star, who is also Knockhill's business development manager, was joined on the track by brother-in-law Rory Butcher, who made his BTCC debut after being confirmed as part of the Team Shredded Wheat Racing with DUO line-up for the remainder of the 2017 campaign.

Shedden went into action with a slender advantage at the top of the standings and the weekend began with a frenetic qualifying session, with a damp track developing a dry line in the final minutes of the session.

A ninth place left the reigning champ disappointed and, as championship leader, he was hampered further by 75kg of success ballast in Round 19 before battling around the tight circuit to 11th place as Turkington finished third behind Subaru duo Jason Plato and Ashley Sutton.

Shedden kept up the challenge for championship spoils with a solid drive in race two, finishing sixth for 10 much-needed points, which came after no fewer than five cars crashed out of the contest following a multi-car accident.

With cars littered in the gravel and across the track, the race was inevitably red flagged and a lengthy stoppage followed, and the podium consisted of the same trio as in race one with Sutton this time taking the win ahead of Plato.

But the weekend was to end on a high note for Shedden, who drove to a hugely popular second place and 17 points, as Tom Ingram took victory with Turkington completing the top three once more.

Shedden said: "The car was good but it was just lacking a bit. Tom (Ingram) had mega pace and drove really well so I'll take second place.

"For my title challenge, it was good to end the day with a podium and second spot, and it was great to see such a huge crowd come out here at Knockhill.

"This is my home track and we obviously came here with hopes of a win and sending the fans home happy, but with the tricky qualifying session and the ballast in the car, it was about getting as many points as possible to keep my championship challenge on course."

The BTCC returns next weekend at Rockingham (August 26-27) for Rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the series.