Ronan Pearson claims maiden BTCC win in Brands Hatch finale
Ronan Pearson took a hugely popular maiden British Touring Car Championship victory in the final race of the day at Brands Hatch after making a fine move for the lead early on.
The Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS driver failed to get the best of starts from pole position, dropped behind the Vauxhall of Aron Taylor-Smith through the opening sequence of corners, however he soon made amends at Clearways at the end of the first lap as he carved down the inside of the Power Maxed Racing driver.
Once out front, the Scotsman never looked back as he pulled clear of the chasing pack to take the chequered flag by more than three and a half seconds.
Behind, an almighty battle for second place played out as Taylor-Smith came under attack from both Tom Chilton and Ash Sutton. In the closing stages, Chilton made a late lunge down the inside of Taylor-Smith at Paddock Hill Bend to take second away.
Sutton – who had carved his way forward from ninth on the soft tyre – duly followed the Hyundai to complete a ha-trick of podiums for the second weekend on the bounce.
Taylor-Smith settled for fourth ahead of the NAPA Racing UK duo of Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom, who completed the top six.
The Toyotas of Andrew Watson and Rob Huff were next up while Team BMW pairing Colin Turkington and Adam Morgan rounded out the top ten.
