RORY BUTCHER and Gordon Shedden will be hoping Knockhill will be home sweet home as they prepare to race on native soil.

The duo, who are brothers-in-law, will go head-to-head at the West Fife circuit this weekend for rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) as they battle for points to keep themselves in title contention.

And they're hoping that the return of a partisan Scottish crowd for the first time since 2019 can give them the edge and accelerate away from their opponents.

Butcher and Shedden have strong links to the track, with the former's father, Derek, being its CEO and owner, while the latter's wife, Jillian, is the venue's managing director.

Although the BTCC was able to take place last year as part of a revised calendar, and visited Knockhill, no crowds were permitted to attend under COVID-19 restrictions.

However, circuit bosses were given the go-ahead to host crowds of up to 10,000 on both Saturday and Sunday, and both drivers hope that can spur them – and fellow Scot, Aiden Moffat – on to glory.

Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Butcher, 34, arrives at Scotland's national motorsport centre on the back of collecting his first win for his new team last time out at Oulton Park, while three-time champion 'Flash' enjoyed a pair of podium finishes.

Those results leave them eighth and sixth respectively in the standings, 32 and 29 points adrift of championship pacesetter, Ash Sutton.

Butcher, who picked up a race win at Knockhill in both 2019 and 2020, and has only finished outside the top 10 twice in 12 races there, said: "The BTCC only comes up to Scotland once a year and the fans turn out in their thousands and really get behind us Scottish drivers.

"Even just walking through the paddock, everybody wishes you well – it’s the most amazing feeling – and when you get a good result, the excitement and buzz right the way around the circuit is simply incredible. That support definitely gives me a little bit extra and hopefully I can use it to spur me on.

"We’ll be relatively light still, which is good because additional weight does hurt at Knockhill, especially with the heavy braking zone into the hairpin and big drag uphill to the start/finish line. Last season, I was third in the standings going there, which meant I was lugging around a fair chunk of ballast, but I was more than 40 points away from the championship lead.

"This year, I’m closer on points but carrying substantially less weight, which is an ideal scenario – the championship position at the moment is almost irrelevant.

"I’ve got to say, to come away with a third win in as many years at Knockhill would just be a dream – so let’s get out there and see what we can do."

Halfords Racing with Cataclean ace Shedden, 42, last tasted a race victory at Knockhill in 2015 – the year in which he won the second of his three BTCC crowns – and commented: "I can’t wait for Knockhill.

"It’s huge news for Knockhill, Scotland and for the BTCC to have fans back. We need the support; it’s been far too long, going 18 months without fans. 

"We got a little bit of that buzz from Oulton Park but I really hope that we can get a massive amount of support for myself, Rory, Aiden and everyone on the BTCC package as well at Knockhill. We really need that, the extra spring in our step from a Scottish crowd."

Stuart Gray, events director at Knockhill, added: "Between Rory, Gordon and Aiden Moffat, the three Scottish drivers at Oulton Park, they occupied the positions of sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second and first, with Aiden getting a sixth, a fifth and a fourth, Gordon getting a third and a second, and Rory obviously getting the win.

"It's a really nice countdown to Knockhill.

"They're all at the sharp end, all scored heavily with points, and are now in contention. Touring Cars is a funny championship in that it's very rare that you have a perfect season; there's always events where you have DNFs, you have incidents, mechanical issues and whatever, but over the year the cream always comes to the top.

"The three Scottish drivers are on the rise, which is great."

Sunday's race day will be live on ITV4 and, for ticket information, visit www.knockhill.com.