Double Formula Renault BARC Club Class Champion Ian Pearson will step up to the FR2000 Class of the series after retaining his title at Thruxton.

The Didcot racer has seven Club Class wins this season and although Mark Terry can draw level with maximum points in the final two rounds at Brands Hatch this weekend, Pearson would be champion by virtue of having more race wins.

With the Club Class title secure, he will race for Welch Motorsport in the FR2000 Class at the season finale at Brands Hatch.

The 26-year-old, who works as an engineering technician, was a hot favourite for the title after his crushing Championship victory last season. He scored 11 race wins, 11 pole positions and 11 fastest laps in 12 rounds, only failing to finish the final round at Oulton Park, to win by a massive 88 points.

Pearson admits the pressure was on him to defend his title, especially with Terry stringing together a run of second place finishes.

He said: "Everyone expected me to win the championship again this year. If I didn't, people would ask what went wrong and now that I have, people say I should have won anyway."

A collision with FR2000 Class racer Denis Autier on lap two at Thruxton meant Pearson limped into the pits and retirement while the race continued.

He said: "I was sitting on the pitwall working out the points depending on where Mark finished. It was a manic weekend with 32 cars on the grid and the race didn't go according to plan from my point of view. Also, my new sponsor, Invotech, came to watch but I wasn't out there for very long and there arent many pictures of the car with its name on!

"Mark managed to get past Adrian Dixon to finish third and that's a bit disappointing because the standings could end up even. All in all, its a bit of an anti-climactic way to win the championship, but I'll be happy when I get my hands on the trophy again."

Having successfully defended his title, Pearson is looking for a new challenge in the Championship as he prepares for his sixth season. The natural step is to trade in his trusty Tatuus RC97 for a new or second-hand FR2.0.

He said: "I will try to buy a FR2000 Class car for myself, but I can't afford to run with a team so I would still need to do the preparation and set-up work myself. I also need to sell my current car, which I'm having a bit of difficulty doing and there haven't been many offers. Perhaps now I can re-advertise it as a championship-winning car and spark some new interest!"