M-Sport British Rally Championship driver Garry Pearson proved he is ready to fight for podiums and wins in the series at the opening round, the East Riding Stages.
Returning to drive a Ford Fiesta Rally2 for the works M-Sport squad in 2025, Pearson and co-driver Hannah McKillop got their BRC campaign underway on the tricky closed-road stages near Beverley, East Yorkshire, on Sunday (February 23).
Lining up against a field including World and British champions, the Scotsman punched in a superb second-fastest time on the rally’s opening stage and maintained that form into the second with another top-three time.
Locked in an intense fight for the podium, Pearson was utilising all the tricks he had worked on over the off-season and proved they had worked, as he held his own against the elite of British rallying.
A small off-road moment in the slippery conditions left him fourth at the midday service break, before the weather turned and transformed the stages into a mud bath.
Unfortunately, Pearson would be one of several drivers to be caught out in the afternoon in a tricky braking zone, where a change in road surface and therefore grip spelt the end of his promising performance.
But despite not collecting the result he deserved, Pearson is proud to have shown the rallying world what he is truly capable of – particularly on Tarmac, which has never traditionally been his strongest surface.
Garry Pearson said: “There are two ways to reflect on the East Riding Stages: pride in our pace, but disappointment at the result.
“I think we ultimately have to take the positives and be really satisfied with how we were able to fight with the very top guys throughout the morning.
“I have put in a lot of work behind the scenes over the off-season to try and make that next step and it was really encouraging to see the difference it made. The best thing is it all felt comfortable and everything flowed really well.
“Nevertheless it’s a shame not to walk away with a decent haul of championship points, but in the British Rally Championship we are allowed a dropped score so this shouldn’t affect our championship.
“Thanks to Hannah for her amazing job on our first event together as a full-time partnership and to all my partners for helping us make it here.
“I feel really excited for the rest of the season and the return to gravel in April.”
The next round of the 2025 British Rally Championship is the Carlisle Stages on Saturday April 12, with stages in the famous Kielder forest complex.
