Honda Yuasa Racing stars Matt Neal and Gordon 'Flash' Shedden will be in Scotland this weekend as their quest for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship continues.

Knockhill will host round seven of this year's 10-meeting BTCC season and Honda Civic drivers currently lie a remarkable first, second and third in the standings. Honda Yuasa's triple champion Neal leads, nine points ahead of the Pirtek Racing Civic of Andrew Jordan, while reigning champion Shedden is another 13 points back.

Shedden is looking forward to racing in front of his home fans and hopes to close the gap in the title race. "It's not so much traveling for me for once!" said the local.

"The Civic's handling is fantastic at the moment and it's doing everything I want it to do. We'll just go out there and give it 110 per cent, but the competition will be coming from all angles."

Shedden also believes the nature of the circuit means it is worth fans making the trip north.

"Knockhill is probably the polar opposite to Snetterton [scene of the last BTCC round] in terms of the length of track and the undulations," he added. "It always provides spectacular racing and it's great for the fans to see the cars bouncing over the kerbs and the drivers really having to work.

"It's an absolute rollercoaster and is a tricky circuit to learn - it's not as simple as it looks."

Some of Honda Yuasa's rivals have been handed a turbo boost reduction since the last round and Neal hopes the Civics will again prove competitive.

"We've had the boost work more in our favour this time, but we're still carrying a lot of weight [thanks to the BTCC's success ballast system]," said Neal. "Knockhill is a handling circuit, but it also has two long straights.

"I think both the MGs will be very fast, as well as the BMWs, and Flash is always very quick at Knockhill. Andy Jordan has also been fast everywhere this year and I don't see why this weekend will be any different."

Like Shedden, Neal enjoys Knockhill, even if he has rather further to go to get there. "It's like no other circuit, though I don't like the trip up!" he said.

"You get a good atmosphere from the fans - whether they are cheering you or booing you - so it's a real buzz for the drivers. The racing is normally very intense too."

The Knockhill action gets under way at 09:35 on Saturday with free practice. Qualifying is at 15:05, and the first of three races on Sunday is scheduled for 11:45.