RONAN PEARSON has said he's confident of enjoying a "really strong year" in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) ahead of its second race weekend.

The talented Kelty driver will be back on the grid this Saturday and Sunday at Brands Hatch Indy seeking to build on his performance in the opening three rounds of competition last month.

The 22-year-old showed his front-running potential in fine style at Donington Park in the 2024 season opener, Pearson, competing for the EXCELR8 Motorsport-run Team Bristol Street Motors outfit, put in his best qualifying performance in the series to date, landing fifth place on the grid, which he held in the first race.

Throughout that opener, which also had a long safety car period as a result of a first lap incident, Pearson kept pace with four-time champion, Colin Turkington, and did so once more in race two, where was looking on course for another good haul of points.

READ MORE: Race ace Ronan 'left nothing on the table' as touring cars return

However, a power-steering issue forced him off the track and into an unscheduled pit-stop, after which he re-joined a lap down and would finish 17th, despite setting the fastest lap.

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A recurrence of the problem in lap two of race three saw him forced to retire but, despite the disappointment of missing out on three potential top six finishes, Pearson is remaining optimistic.

"I could be downbeat after the way race day panned out but I know that the problem we had was completely outside our control and if we put that to one side, it was incredible," he said.

"After pre-season testing, I felt confident we had a good car going into the weekend but you never know what everyone else has been doing over the winter, so to come out in qualifying and score P5 on the grid was great; the car was mega.

"The rain delays were difficult on race day but when we finally got out there on track, I think I drove the best I have driven. I had so much confidence in the car and was leaving nothing on the table, and to be battling with someone like Colin Turkington because I was there on merit was an amazing feeling.

"Of course it’s a shame that an issue then hampered us in races two and three, but even then I showed my pace with a fastest lap so there is so much I can take away from this weekend as we look towards the rest of the season.

"I genuinely feel I’m in a fantastic position to have a really strong year, and hopefully qualifying and the opening race this weekend is just the start."