Garry Pearson made his strongest ever start to a British Rally Championship (BRC) season last weekend when he finished third at the Severn Valley Stages (April 11).
Returning to Britain’s premier and most competitive rally series with co-driver Hannah McKillop, the Duns-based driver took the fight to the Welsh drivers on their home territory aboard his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Setting a strong second-fastest time on the opening stage of the Llandrindod Wells event, Pearson showed his upturn in performance in 2025 was no fluke.
While a small spin into a ditch hurt his victory chances, Pearson remained calm and consistently delivered top-three times to eventually claim third place at a rally that included the legendary Myherin stage, famed for its time in the UK’s World Rally Championship round.
Pearson has never finished on the podium at the opening round of the season before, but now heads home to Scotland and the Jim Clark Rally next month full of confidence, and with a result to build strong momentum from.
Garry Pearson said:
“All things considered we can be very happy with third at the opening round of the BRC.
“Last year we significantly improved our performance and it’s incredibly satisfying to see we’ve made another step forwards in 2026 – which is also down to the upgrade package M-Sport introduced to the Fiesta late last year.
“There are still things we can improve – the moment on SS3 was disappointing but these things happen when you’re competing at the very front.
“This event was always going to be a weaker one for us so I’m now really looking forward to the rest of the season. We have great experience of the next three events (Jim Clark, Kielder Carlisle and Grampian Forest) so that gives me great confidence as we look to build on this momentum.
“Thanks to all my supporters and partners for helping make this happen – I’m aware of how lucky I am to drive the very best car in a great championship against equally great drivers.”
