RONAN PEARSON was left to reflect on what might have been after he ended a "tricky weekend" in the points as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) returned.

The Dunfermline-based driver, formerly of Kelty, was back behind the wheel of his Team Bristol Street Motors Hyundai at Croft, North Yorkshire, as the series resumed after its mid-season break.

Five weeks had passed since the first half of the campaign concluded at Oulton Park in Cheshire and Ronan, who secured his first BTCC victory at Brands Hatch Indy, in round six in May, was looking for points in his bid to win the Jack Sears Trophy, a championship for drivers who, at the beginning of the season, had not achieved a podium place.

Ronan's first win in the series came in May, in round six, at Brands Hatch Indy.Ronan's first win in the series came in May, in round six, at Brands Hatch Indy. (Image: Jakob Ebrey Photography.)

He remains second in those standings, behind Mikey Doble, after events at Croft, in which his EXCELR8 Motorsport-run outfit claimed the teams' trophy, and a race win for Ronan's team-mate, Tom Chilton.

He lined up in 18th place on the grid for race one after qualifying and, in sweltering weather conditions, opted to run on the slower, hard tyre at first opportunity.

Although he made up some ground, Ronan ended up just outside the points in 16th position, but a much more difficult outing was to follow in race two, when he was forced to bring his car into the pits and retire.

For the finale, in which pole-sitter Chilton went on to take the chequered flag, Ronan showed what might have been with his best result of the weekend, charging from last place on the grid to cross the line in 10th, collecting six points.

Speaking to his team's website, he reflected: "The final race was a good way to end a tricky weekend, which goes back to qualifying where we should have been higher up the order.

"Race one was all about just getting rid of the hard tyre and I didn’t expect much in terms of the result, but then in race two I had to bring the car in to retire with a damaged wheel that was causing a really bad vibration.

"Race three showed what we can do when it all comes together and we had so much pace. I think that with a few more laps we could have got even higher, so it shows what might have been if we’d started race day where we should have done."

The next outing for Ronan and his fellow BTCC drivers is at his home circuit, Knockhill, on August 10-11.