Osian Pryce has won the 2025 Roger Albert Clark Rally in sensational style – leading the UK’s longest and toughest event from start to finish (all bar one stage) and mastering the most challenging wintry weather conditions to score victory by 2mins 39secs in a Wales Motorsport-built and prepared Ford Escort RS1800 Mk2.
Having come close to victory in 2021 and 2023, the 32-year old Machynlleth-born driver was the class of the five-day bi-annual marathon event, setting 11 fastest stage times and bouncing back from an off and a puncture to win Britain’s most gruelling gravel stage rally.
It was also a magnificent achievement for Osian’s co-driver Dale Furniss, as the Llanfyllin-based navigator wins the event at his first attempt.
Following the ceremonial start in Carmarthen, Osian took the lead with fastest time on the opening stage and finished day one with a 17sec lead.
After wintry overnight showers and a hard frost, the second day of competition in Wales had even more snow and ice – and having increased his lead to 1min 12secs, the 2022 British Rally Champion spun on an icy long left hander in a cold and dark Sweet Lamb/Hafren (SS11), with the car gently slipping backwards into a ditch. Spectators came to the rescue, but with almost a minute lost, Osian’s lead at the end of day two was down to 29secs.
After a long drive from Welshpool to Carlisle, day three initially saw Osian increase his lead before losing it (for what would be the first and only time) on SS14, when there was no grip to be found on a particularly icy stage. Having retaken the lead, next up was Kershope (SS16) – a stage that hadn’t been kind to Osian in the past, and one which he had done meticulous preparation for. It proved to be the turning point, for he stopped the clocks almost a minute faster than Paul Barrett/Gordon Noble, whom he was battling for victory with, and ended day three with a 58sec lead.
A front right puncture on SS25 reduced Osian’s lead to 29secs, but an impressive push through the repeat run of the Scottish stages saw Osian end day four with a 1min 52sec advantage.
The fifth and final day featured the monstrous 40-mile final sting in the tail stage, which Osian entered with a 2min 26sec lead. An inch-perfect and drama-free run through that final Kielder Forest test assured Osian of victory, as he and Dale crossed the flying finish of SS35 to win the 2025 RAC Rally by an impressive 2mins 39secs.
“Winning the RAC Rally, overcoming some of the most challenging conditions that I’ve ever competed on and leading from almost start to finish, are what dreams are made of,” said Osian.
“This victory has been four years in the making. Having come close to winning the RAC Rally twice before the monkey is finally off my back, and a big thank you to Dale and the Wales Motorsport team.
“This project came together about twelve months ago. Wales Motorsport and I have had some bad luck on this event before, so we joined forces for the first time this year to combine all our previous experience and ultimately achieve exactly what we set out to do.
“The car has been incredibly reliable. The only thing that we’ve done is refuel it and put new brake pads on, and that’s a huge testament to the car’s build quality.
“The event has been a bit of a rollercoaster. You don’t survive the longest and toughest rally in the UK without a few hiccups, and we skidded off the road on some ice, had a puncture and lost the lead once. But we never gave up, kept to our game plan throughout, and it’s all come good in the end.
“I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey – my family, friends and the companies that have got behind me and made all this possible.”
“Osian’s driven fantastically well from start to finish and the event has been such an amazing experience,” added Dale.
“The conditions have been incredibly difficult, but we kept calm and concentrated on doing our own thing and that tactic paid dividends.”
Osian is supported by The Leading Edge, Jordan Road Surfacing, SMART Bodyshop Solutions Group, Morrisons Daily, Rhode-Trax, Demon Tweeks, Hills Ford, Bell, Haddo Energy, Superfast Properties, Red Kite Glass, Diogel Events, Gorsaf Betrol TyMawr, J.E Rees & Sons, and his own family-run specialist building firm G+M Pryce.
