Ronan’s on track for title chance
KELTY motorsport star Ronan Pearson remains in contention for a national title after two podium places in its penultimate weekend.
The 21-year-old, who celebrated his landmark birthday on Tuesday, heads to Brands Hatch this weekend for the final races of the Quaife Mini Challenge second in the drivers’ standings and within reach of the lead after maintaining his strong recent form at Silverstone.
Pearson, who collected two race victories and a second place at his home track, Knockhill, at the end of July, is 66 points adrift of pacesetter Sam Weller with 150 still left to play for in the final three races.
The competition is held as a support class to the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship and Pearson, who joined forces with EXCELR8 Motorsport last year, is competing for a third year.
He now has a chance of going for title glory this weekend at Brands Hatch after an excellent display at the famous Northamptonshire circuit, where he qualified with the fourth-quickest time on the grid, just over one-tenth of a second away from pole position.
Inheriting a place before the race began following an issue for fellow driver Matthew George on the green flag lap, Pearson ran in a solid third for the opening half of the race before a bid for second place worked against him as it opened the door for team-mate Jason Lockwood to move ahead and leave him settling for fourth.
Race two, however, saw the West
Fifer make a strong start and move into third on the opening lap, which he would go on to claim at the chequered flag after another battle with Lockwood.
In the final race, and with the top four on the grid reversed, Pearson embarked on a titanic clash with Weller, after which he finished second behind the championship leader.
“A win would obviously have been great but to come away from the weekend with two podium finishes, and the fastest lap in all three races, is fantastic,” Pearson said.
“We came close to a podium in the first race before losing out to Jason, and I wasn’t going to let him finish ahead of me again in race two! That gave me a front row for the final race and the fight with Sam was absolutely brilliant. To run side-by-side for nearly a full lap and for it to be as clean as it was was just great and I can’t be disappointed with second after a battle like that.”
During a visit to Knockhill ahead of this weekend’s races, he added: “To be in this position is incredible. You want to go to the final round of every year having a chance to have a shot at going for the title. I believe that I can do it.
“Obviously, there is quite a points margin at the moment but in this game, anything can happen. You never know how the cookie can crumble and it’s also not my championship to lose, so I’m really relaxed.”