Osian Pryce got his Probite British Rally Championship title challenge back on track in spectacular style by winning the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages in his Dom Buckley RSC-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2.
It was also Rhodri Evans’ first rally victory as a co-driver – although he has won a road rally before as a driver, with Osian navigating!
Osian set the second fastest time on his first competitive gravel stage in the Michelin-shod Fiesta Rally2 through the tricky opening Sarnau test and then turned a 3.2 second deficit into a 0.4 second lead after setting fastest time through SS2, Tarennig. Two more fastest times through Myherin and Sweet Lamb followed, which saw the 2022 British rally champion arrive at midday service at the Royal Welsh Showground in Llanelwedd with an 11.7 second advantage.
Hopes that the rain and thick low cloud would clear for the afternoon loop were dashed, and the stages became even more polished and slippery than they had been. Osian’s inspired decision to keep the car’s set up on the soft side proved spot on, as he extended his lead to 14 seconds after the repeat run through Sarnau.
The two longest stages of the event remained, and Osian maintained his lead with a second fastest time through the 15.82 mile Myherin Main stage and finished the event with his fourth fastest time (out of seven) through the closing 13.34 mile Hafren Main test.
By the time he and Rhodri arrived back at the finish outside the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells, they were able to celebrate a convincing 20 second victory.
It was Osian’s first BRC win since the 2022 Rally Yorkshire and his 12th BRC win of his career.
“We achieved what we came here to do, although saying you’re going to win is always easier than doing it,” said Osian.
“I was reasonable happy after the first stage, and although we were behind we’d performed well and I knew that there was more to come from the car. We made some set up changes during the day and that helped. The car has been faultless from a mechanical point of view and there is definitely more to come from it in the future.
“It was a great rally with fantastic and very challenging stages. The stages were if anything even trickier than when I did them last on Wales Rally GB, because they polished up so much and were extremely slippery, so I’m really pleased to have got through them pretty much trouble-free.
“After retiring on the opening round, we really needed this result to keep our championship title hopes alive and let’s see where it goes from here.”
The next round of the Probite British Rally Championship is the Duns-based Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally on 24/25 May.
Osian is supported by The Leading Edge, Michelin, Demon Tweeks, Bell Racing helmets, OMP race suits, Hills Ford, DL Jones Pontrobert Ltd (coach and taxi hire), MotoFit (performance training), Redkite Glass, Cwmni Diogel (Security and Event Management), Kitchen Door Changer, Speedy Sofas, Gorsaf Betrol Tymawr/Rheidol, and his own family-run specialist building firm G+M Pryce.
