Borders rally driver Garry Pearson still upbeat despite ditch hitch hitting title bid

Motorsport UK British Rally Championship contender Garry Pearson is confident he’s still in with a shot at the title despite failing to get to the finish line of the fourth round of the series, last weekend’s Grampian Forest Rally.
Garry Pearson and co-driver Dale Furniss in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 at last weekend's Grampian Forest Rally (Photo: Adam Pigott/British Rally Championship)Garry Pearson and co-driver Dale Furniss in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 at last weekend's Grampian Forest Rally (Photo: Adam Pigott/British Rally Championship)
Garry Pearson and co-driver Dale Furniss in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 at last weekend's Grampian Forest Rally (Photo: Adam Pigott/British Rally Championship)

The Duns driver kept up with the front-runners across the gravel forest tests of Durris, Drumtochty and Fetteresso, just a handful of seconds away from second place overall as he challenged for another podium place.

As he headed into the final loop of the rally, however, his Ford Fiesta Rally2 was forced wide and ended up stuck in undergrowth and that was game over for the 30-year and co-driver Dale Furniss.

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Pearson’s debut season in the top-flight championship after making the step up from the national rally series with four major titles to his name in 2021 has seen him remain within reach of current front-runner and four-time champion Keith Cronin.

The Borderer claimed his maiden championship podium place by finishing third overall at his home event, May’s Jim Clark Rally, and he followed that up with a fourth place on the gravel of the Nicky Grist Stages in Wales last month.

He had been hoping to build on those successes at the Grampian Rally and got off to a promising start, just five seconds off the lead at the opening stage of the rally. By the second loop of stages, he was sitting fourth, only four seconds away from a podium position, but at the penultimate stage of the race, he ended up in a boggy ditch with no prospect of carrying on.

Pearson is now fifth in the championship’s standings with 30 provisional points, 56 behind Cronin and 38 shy of second-placed Osian Pryce.

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Drawing positives from his display up until that mishap, he said: “Of course, this is ultimately not the result we wanted from the weekend, but I’m really pleased with the performance we put in during the day.

“To be that close to the front of the British Rally Championship pace on only our second gravel event in the car is very encouraging indeed. We had been working extremely hard on the set-up of the car since the Nicky Grist Stages and, as a team, we have been looking at ways we can do things differently to improve.

“That hard work paid off and shows in the pace we had, and everything seemed to come together.”

“The Hankook tyres were working well, and we had a good feeling in the car, so we felt confident enough to try and find the limits of the car.

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“Sadly, it was one of those things and we just got caught out. We got it out and drove the car back to service so it was just unlucky that we were beached.”

The championship offers two dropped scores over the course of the season so all is not lost for Pearson, and next month he heads back to Wales for round five, Rali Ceredigion, an event new to him.

“We have always said this is a learning year for us, and tackling new events in unfamiliar territory is part of that process,” added Pearson.

“It will be good to get back onto tar again this year as we can put what we learned at the Jim Clark Rally to good use. It will be a challenge, of course, but that is why we are here.”

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