Ronan Pearson
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (2001-10-04) 4 October 2001
Fife, Scotland
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season2023
Current teamBristol Street Motors with EXCELR8
Car number14
Starts30 (30 entries)
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish18th in 2023
Previous series
2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018
2017, 2016
Mini Challenge JCW
Michelin Clio Cup Series
Junior Saloon Car Championship
Championship titles
2019Michelin Clio Cup Series

Ronan Pearson (born 4 October 2001) is a British racing driver from Scotland currently competing in the 2023 British Touring Car Championship, driving for Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8. He was the 2019 Michelin Clio Cup Series champion.

Career

Karting

Pearson competed in club karting in his native Scotland for six years before his car racing debut, competing in cadet karts before moving up to juniors.[1]

Junior Saloon Car Championship

Pearson made his car racing debut in 2016, driving in the Junior Saloon Car Championship for 6 of the 9 rounds.[1] He finished 20th in the overall standings. Returning to the championship for a full season in 2017 with Westbourne Motorsport, he finished 10th in the overall standings, with one podium at the Snetterton round.[2]

Michelin Clio Cup

For 2018, Pearson would step up to the Michelin Clio Cup, driving again for Westbourne Motorsport.[3] He finished on the podium five times throughout the season, also recording two pole positions and four fastest laps.

He returned to the championship in 2019, continuing with Westbourne Motorsport,[4] where he won the championship.[5]

Mini Challenge UK

In 2020, Pearson moved up to the Mini Challenge UK with Lux Motorsport.[5] With one podium throughout the season, he finished 11th in the overall standings.

Switching to LDR Performance Tuning for the 2021 season, he finished 8th in the standings, with one podium and one fastest lap.

He continued in the championship for the 2022 season, this time switching to EXCELR8 Motorsport, and becoming a development driver for their BTCC team in the process.[6] He won three races across the season, including one at the opening round at Donington Park,[7] and two at his home round at Knockhill,[8] which together with eight podiums, one pole position and five fastest laps, brought him to 4th place in the overall standings.

He initially signed a contract to compete in the 2023 season with EXCELR8 Motorsport,[9] but would not race after his surprise move to the British Touring Car Championship.[10]

British Touring Car Championship

In November 2022, it was announced that Pearson would compete in the 2023 Mini Challenge UK with EXCELR8.[11] However, after a new sponsorship deal with Macklin Motors, in February 2023 it was announced that he would drive for Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 in the 2023 British Touring Car Championship,[12] alongside Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton and Nick Halstead. In the first round of the season at Donington Park, Pearson qualified in a respectable 11th place.[13] In a mixed-conditions race in the second race of the weekend, after starting 24th due to a driving error in the first race, Pearson climbed 21 places to finish third following a successful strategy call,[14] what would have been his first overall podium in the championship. However, he was disqualified from the race after his car failed the post-race ride-height test.[15]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2016 Junior Saloon Car Championship  ? 12 0 0 0 0 50 20th
2017 Junior Saloon Car Championship Westbourne Motorsport 14 0 0 0 1 187 10th
2018 Michelin Clio Cup Series Westbourne Motorsport with Hillnic Homes  ? 0 2 4 5  ?  ?
2019 Michelin Clio Cup Series – Race Westbourne Motorsport  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 1st
2020 Mini Challenge – JCW Lux Motorsport 13 0 0 0 1 284 11th
2021 Mini Challenge – JCW LDR Performance Tuning 19 0 1 0 1 484 8th
2022 Mini Challenge – JCW EXCELR8 Motorsport 20 3 1 5 8 704 4th
2023 British Touring Car Championship Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 30 0 0 1 0 69 18th

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2002–2003 all races, 2004–present just in first race) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 2002 just in feature races, 2003–present all races)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2023 Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance DON
1

24
DON
2

DSQ
DON
3

19
BRH
1

16
BRH
2

13
BRH
3

13
SNE
1

12
SNE
2

14
SNE
3

Ret
THR
1

15
THR
2

19
THR
3

19
OUL
1

18
OUL
2

16
OUL
3

17
CRO
1

NC
CRO
2

24
CRO
3

19
KNO
1

5
KNO
2

7
KNO
3

4*
DON
1

14
DON
2

14
DON
3

15
SIL
1

24
SIL
2

11
SIL
3

5
BRH
1

20
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

16
18th 69

References

  1. 1 2 "Ronan Pearson". Panda Racing. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. "Ronan Pearson | Racing career profile | Driver Database". DriverDB. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  3. Paice, Simon (24 March 2018). "Returning Champions Lead 2018 Clio Cup Series Entry". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. Paice, Simon (15 January 2019). "Pearson Returns For Second Clio Cup Series Campaign". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. 1 2 MacKay, Peter (16 December 2019). "Catching Up With: Ronan Pearson". Mini Challenge UK. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  6. "Ronan Pearson Targets Mini Challenge Honours in New EXCELR8 BTCC Driver Development Role". EXCELR8 Motorsport. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. "Mini Challenge UK – Ronan Pearson Storms to Success at Donington Park". Cobra Sport. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  8. "Ronan Pearson Back In The Fight After Home Double". Mini Challenge UK. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. "Motorsport: Kelty's Ronan Pearson to continue in Quaife Mini Challenge". Dunfermline Press. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  10. "Ronan Pearson makes surprise BTCC switch with EXCELR8". TouringCarTimes. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  11. "Ronan Pearson Targets JCW Crown With New EXCELR8 Deal". Mini Challenge UK. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  12. Simmons, Marcus (15 February 2023). "Mini ace Pearson gets final Excelr8 Hyundai BTCC seat". Autosport. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  13. Gill, Samuel (22 April 2023). "Rowbottom seals Donington Park pole position on debut for NAPA Racing UK". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  14. "Tom Chilton ends four year victory drought in chaotic second race". TouringCarTimes. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  15. Salisbury, Matt (23 April 2023). "Ronan Pearson loses maiden BTCC podium". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.