Edward Pearson secured a brace of points finishes in challenging conditions as his second season in the GB3 Championship presented by the BRDC kicked off at Oulton Park.
Edward was aiming for a solid start to the campaign having re-signed with the same Fortec Motorsport squad that carried him to multiple podium finishes during his rookie season - with his best result of second coming in the final race of the year.
After a busy pre-season testing programme, which included two days of running at Oulton Park in the lead-up to the race weekend, Edward hit the track for qualifying aiming to try and break into the top ten on the times, but would have to settle for a place on the seventh row having posted the 14th quickest time.
At a circuit where overtaking is far from straightforward, Edward was able to make up a spot off the line before the safety car was called to recover the car of Adi Kulkarni from the gravel at Shell Oils.
Following the restart, Edward would enjoy a three-way fight for position with Patrick Heuzenroeder and Josh Irfan, and ultimately split the JHR team-mates at the chequered flag as he crossed the line in twelfth spot.
Lining up in 16th on the grid for race two thanks to his second-quickest time in qualifying, Edward faced an added challenge with the dry conditions from Easter Saturday being replaced by rain for Monday’s two races.
Given the treacherous conditions, the race started behind the safety car with Edward battling near-zero visibility in the pack to maintain his position through the opening laps.
Moving up into 14th after a brief safety car period, Edward was dicing with Seb Murray for position when he suffered a spin going into Hislops after his rival edged him over the kerb, with his car becoming beached on the wet grass and forcing him into retirement.
Starting the final race of the weekend from 14th with the rain continuing to come down, Edward climbed into twelfth on the opening lap and would spend the entire race trying to find a way ahead of Noah Ping.
Repeating his result from the opening race, Edward secured a second points score of the weekend and sits 15th in the early season standings ahead of the next event at Silverstone at the end of the month.
"Overall it was a bit of a disappointing weekend at Oulton Park in terms of the end results, but there are still positives for us to take away from it," he said.
"Qualifying meant we were on the back foot a bit considering how difficult it can be to overtake here, but in races one and three, I was able to make up places and score some solid points. I think we would have had a good result in race two had I not been taking out when well placed, but unfortunately, these things happen and there is nothing we can do to change it.”
"We’ll now turn our focus towards the next event at Silverstone, and both the team and myself are confident that we can enjoy a stronger weekend on track."
