Edward Pearson came close to a second podium finish of the GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC season with a battling performance on track at Brands Hatch.
Edward headed for the iconic Kent circuit for the latest three rounds of the season bidding to bounce back from a challenging outing at Silverstone during the fifth meeting of the campaign, where a pair of 19th place finishes didn’t reflect his true pace on track.
Having tested on the shorter Indy circuit on Friday ahead of the weekend, Edward qualified 20th on the grid for the opening race when track action switched to the full Grand Prix loop on Saturday - although his hypothetical best lap would have put him on the fringes of the top 15.
Promoted to 19th ahead of the start after the withdrawal of one of his rivals, Edward was shuffled back to 21st on the opening lap before the safety car was deployed to recover a car from the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend.
When racing resumed on lap three, Edward wasted little time in getting ahead of Shawn Rashid and Daniel Mavlyutov after a fine three-wide move heading onto the GP loop and had worked his way up into 17th place when the safety car was deployed for a second time.
Just three laps of racing remained when the action got back underway, but Edward’s forward progress continued as he battled his way to 15th by the finish - gaining an additional spot post-race when Noah Ping was hit with a penalty.
Starting race two from 16th spot on Sunday morning, Edward maintained his position at the start before a two-car clash at Druids saw the safety car called out.
Unfortunately, Edward would be forced to pull into the pits to retire the car shortly after the restart, with his focus then turning towards the reverse grid finale, which he would start from P4.
Delayed at turn one when two cars clashed ahead, Edward slipped back to fifth place before a lengthy caution period to allow marshals to recover various stricken vehicles from the side of the circuit.
Just over 12 minutes of racing remained on the restart with Edward making a fine move down the inside of Ping at Surtees to move into fourth.
Showing his place with the third quickest lap of the race, faster than he had gone in qualifying, Edward would fight hard to try and overhaul Lucas Staico for a place on the podium before taking the flag in fourth spot.
Edward ends the weekend 18th in the championship standings, just 22 points away from the top 15 ahead of the next event at Zandvoort in a month's time.
"It’s been a really good weekend at Brands Hatch, even with the DNF in the second race," he said. "We had strong pace across the races and the speed in the final one was particularly pleasing, and showed what we are capable of.”
"Hopefully we can take that pace to Zandvoort next month and fight for three good points finishes."
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