Ronan Pearson Fights Back For Jack Sears Trophy Success
Rising star Ronan Pearson bounced back from a tough qualifying session at Thruxton to secure a first Jack Sears Trophy win of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season.
Keen to bounce back from a difficult weekend at Snetterton last time out, the Dunfermline-based racer showed solid pace in free practice at the wheel of his Macklin Motors-backed Hyundai i30 Fastback N, lapping just outside the top ten during the two sessions as he got reacquainted with the fastest circuit in the UK.
Heading towards qualifying, Ronan remained confident of pushing into the top ten on the grid but there would prove to be disappointment when an issue with the throttle on the car instead left him watching on from the sidelines and consigned to the back of the grid for the opening race on Sunday.
The key moment of the opening race would come early on when one of the cars ahead clipped a tyre stack at the chicane on lap one, with those directly behind scattering in avoidance.
That gave Ronan the chance to blast past and he took full advantage to make up five places and immediately rise into the points, where he would stay to the finish in 15th spot.
A difficult start to race two saw Ronan lose places on the opening lap as he dropped back down to 18th on the opening tour but the Scot stormed his way back up the order to cross the line in twelfth; the highlight coming when he battled ahead of Jack Sears Trophy rival Mikey Doble to score maximum points in the class.
Although a post-race penalty dropped him back to 13th, Ronan’s forward progress continued in the final race of the weekend as he battled throughout to keep Doble at bay - mindful of the fact that whichever driver finished ahead on track would secure the Jack Sears Trophy win for the weekend.
Whilst Doble got close and attempted a move more than once, Ronan was able to keep his rival at bay to cross the line in tenth overall and secure the Jack Sears Trophy win - bagging an impressive weekend score of 57 class points out of 60.
“I really wasn’t in a good place at the end of the day on Saturday, so to come back on race day and end up with the Jack Sears Trophy victory is fantastic,” he said.
“It isn’t always that easy to overtake round Thruxton, so to come from 20th on the grid to tenth across the three races is something I’m really pleased with, particularly when you consider it’s only the second time I’ve driven the car here. I was making moves that I wouldn’t even have considered last year and the end result from the weekend shows how important it is to not give up - as was the case at Brands Hatch.
“Race two in particular was really good because I had to fight back through the field after lap one, and that really shows how key experience is because I felt able to lean on the car more and had so much more confidence. The pace speaks for itself, so it’s just a shame we couldn’t make the most of it on Saturday to be higher up the grid.
“There was a lot of pressure in the final race with Mikey behind me and the Jack Sears Trophy win on the line, so to pick up the silverware at the end of the weekend is a great way to round things off. I personally feel I’ve driven well this weekend and credit to the team for giving me a car that was bang on.”
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