Duns driver Garry Pearson teaming up with M-Sport again for fourth British Rally Championship
Duns driver Garry Pearson is teaming up with Cumbrian-based M-Sport again for his fourth British Rally Championship campaign, starting this coming Sunday in East Yorkshire.
The 33-year-old first joined forces with Cockermouth’s M-Sport ahead of last season, going on to finish fifth on 60 points in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 as Manchester’s Chris Ingram made a winning comeback to the domestic competition after 11 years away.
That followed the four-time Scottish champion’s second-placed finish in 2023 on 123 points and a fifth in his 2022 debut season on 52.
Over that time, the Borderer has claimed seven podium places and one overall round win, that being at the Welsh Cambrian Rally in October 2023, and he’s now targeting a fourth top-five placing on the bounce, accompanied by a new co-driver, Hannah McKillop.
Northern Ireland-born McKillop, 30, of Newstead, near Melrose, these days, takes over from Lancashire’s Dan Barritt, Pearson’s sidekick for the last two seasons.
Pearson said: “I’m very excited to renew my deal with the M-Sport team to contest the full British Rally Championship.
“The plan is to build on last year’s experience and improve our pace to start contesting as many podium places as possible at as many rallies as we possibly can.
“I’m delighted to welcome Hannah McKillop into the car with me this year too. Hannah’s done a lot of work with me behind the scenes over the years and we, as a group, felt it was the right time to bring Hannah into the car for 2025.
“I just want to say a massive thank-you to Dan Barritt, who’s helped me tremendously in the car and with my pacenotes over the past two years. Dan and I continue to have a great relationship and plan to do an event or two together again in the future.
“We’re equipped well for the season ahead and have put a phenomenal amount of work in over the off-season to improve, so we just really can’t wait for the season to start.
“As ever, the championship looks great and it’s never easy, but we’re up for the challenge.”
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener added: “It’s fantastic to have Garry Pearson back with the team this year. It was a pleasure working with him in 2024 and we saw some strong results.
“I think we could have a really positive season together and believe more podium results are within Garry’s reach. I’m looking forward to seeing our progress together throughout the year.”
This year’s championship begins with the closed-road East Riding Stages at Beverley, near Hull, this Sunday.
It then takes a break until April’s Carlisle round, followed by May’s Jim Clark Rally in the Borders, August’s Grampian Forest Rally in Aberdeenshire and two Welsh rallies, at Aberystwyth in September and Llandudno in October.