Former Caterham K competitor Rick Pearson returned to his roots at Donington Park on Sunday, making his racing debut for the Daventry-based Tracsport team in the Powertrain R400 Caterham Challenge.
Qualifying: 13th [1m 16.453s]
The Maidstone ace – a top ten finisher in the European Clio Cup last season- had a torrid time in Saturday qualifying, hampered by changeable conditions at the Derbyshire track. His best time of 1:16.45s placed him thirteenth on the grid.
Race 1: 10th
Bouncing back after a difficult qualifying, Pearson put in a sterling performance in the opening couple of laps, sprinting from thirteenth on the grid to a competitive sixth on lap two. The Tracsport car was then forced off the circuit at McLeans following a robust overtaking manoeuvre by Team Parker Racing’s Chris Holmes.
Despite handling problems Pearson blasted back past Hyperion Motorsport’s Kevin Williams and Nick Phillips for the remainder of the twelve lap race, finishing a solid tenth and picking up ten championship points.
Race 2: 11th
Starting on the fifth row of the grid for the second Caterham outing of the afternoon, the R400 feature race, Pearson was again quick off the mark and ensconced in sixth place early in the opening tour.
The slippery track conditions caught many drivers out in the first few laps and caused the Tracsport driver to run wide on lap one whilst avoiding contact with team mate John Ingram’s sliding Caterham.
Having dropped to last, Pearson staged a recovery run on the new Donington Park tarmac and was up to eleventh when heavy rain forced a premature end to the race.
Rick Pearson: “The variable levels of grip here at Donington have forced us to try a wide range of set-ups on the car in an attempt to regain our testing pace. I'm happy that we've learnt a lot, the car is in one piece and I think we should be in pretty good shape at Silverstone for the next round.
“I’m a little disappointed that we've not had the best start to the season points wise but I’ll be doing my best to remedy that at Silverstone in two weeks time."
Rounds 3 and 4: 17/18 April Silverstone International
