Osian Pryce remains at the top of the British Rally Championship standings after finishing third on last weekend’s Borders Competitions Jim Clark Rally (22/23 May) in his Castrol MEM Rally Team Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Competing on his first asphalt rally in the Toyota, Osian and co-driver James Morgan made an immediate impact by setting the fastest time on the opening stage. The pair ended Leg 1 in second place after four stages, firmly in contention for victory.
However, Osian’s unfortunate run of bad luck on the Jim Clark Rally continued on Saturday morning when a delay before the start of SS5 left the hard compound Michelin tyres on his Toyota stone cold heading into the Polwarth stage.
The resulting lack of grip contributed to an overshoot costing valuable time, but a further issue proved even more costly when the car refused to engage reverse gear, leaving Osian stranded up an escape road for around 25 seconds.
With any hopes of victory effectively over, Osian switched focus to securing third place while using the remaining stages to further develop the set-up of the GR Yaris Rally2. The event ended on a positive note, with the 2022 British Rally Champion setting the fastest time on the rally’s 10th and final stage.
Victory on the season-opening Severn Valley Stages Rally, followed by third place in Scotland, means that the 33-year old Machynlleth-born driver continues to lead the BRC Drivers’ standings after two rounds.
“We started really well and everything was going to plan,” said Osian.
“We had a few small moments early on, so we made some set-up changes after the first loop of stages. Unfortunately, we went slightly in the wrong direction and the changes didn’t really work, but that’s all part of learning a new car and you always learn from those experiences.
“On Saturday morning there was a delay at the start of the first stage. We’d been waiting on the start line for around 10 or 15 minutes and the hard compound Michelin tyres were completely cold.
“At the first junction the car locked up and, fortunately, there was an escape road available. Unfortunately, for some reason we then couldn’t get the car into reverse gear, which cost us about 25 seconds.
“Once our chances of winning had gone, and with a comfortable gap behind us in third place, we decided to use the rest of the rally as a test session. We tried different things with the car on almost every stage, and it turned out to be a really productive day.
“We now have a much better understanding of the Toyota’s asphalt set-up and have established a strong base to build from. To leave the Jim Clark still leading the championship, while also learning how to extract more performance from the car, is a very positive outcome after two rounds.”
Following the cancellation of next month’s Kielder Carlisle Stages, round three of the British Rally Championship will now be the Grampian Forest Rally on 7/8 August.
Osian is supported by The Leading Edge, Hills Automotive, Haddo Energy, Demon Tweeks, LAS Recycling, Bell, Red Kite Glass, Rhode-Trax, Morrisons Daily, Superfast Properties, OMP, Zero Noise, Gorsaf Betrol Tymawr, Diogel Events, J.E Rees & Sons, Jordan Road Surfacing, Glenbrook, and his own family-run specialist building firm G+M Pryce.
