Osian Pryce celebrated his 100th rally start in the best possible fashion on Saturday by storming to victory at the Nicky Grist Stages Rally, the third round of the Motorsport UK British Rally Championship.
Pryce and co-driver Noel O’Sullivan were a force to be reckoned with on the legendary gravel stages, taking their Michelin-shod Volkswagen Polo GTi to five fastest stage times on their way to their second victory of the season, adding to their Clacton Rally win.
It would be Jim Clark Rally winner Keith Cronin who was Pryce’s nearest challenger in second, while BRC returnee Jason Pritchard scooped his first BRC podium of the season in third, making it a Volkswagen rostrum lockout in the process.
A blisteringly hot and action-packed day was lined up for the BRC contenders with Builth Wells providing the base for the eight-test rally which would utilise the same stages which have witnessed World Rally Championship battles being played out over the decades.
Osian Pryce in action. Picture by Jakob Ebrey.
A short, sharp day in the woods would mean the margin for error was minimal and it was Pryce and the Melvyn Evans Motorsport squad that stole the march on the chasing pack with the fastest time over the opening Lyn Login test.
The Pirelli-backed Polo of Cronin retaliated on the very next stage, going 1.8 seconds faster to reduce the margin to an eye-watering 0.1 second after the first two tests.
Set for a battle royale over the longer stages that followed, it was Pryce that was in command, going fastest on both the Halfway and Crychan stages to head into the mid-point service half with a 12.7 second cushion over Cronin.
Try as he might, the four-time British champion could not live with Pryce on home soil and the Welshman would take the ultimate redemption for his Jim Clark Rally zero score by taking arguably a pivotal victory in his BRC title charge, even overcoming a final stage puncture to take an all-important maximum score.
Jason Pritchard in action. Picture by Tom Banks.
"You couldn’t write this really," he said. "I lost a little self-belief after the last rally so it’s nice to get the job done and it’s a nice milestone winning the event on my one hundredth rally start.
"You have to be on it from the word go on sprint events like this and it’s been yet another great battle and we have been pushing really hard today.”
“I’m really chuffed with that one, everyone has done such a great job this weekend, Noel especially and I’ve certainly enjoyed the rally, in some challenging conditions; it’s great to have the win.“
After two very trying asphalt rounds, Jason Pritchard would return to the gravel in a four-wheel-drive car for the first time in over 10 years at the Grist
An impressive performance from the Builth Wells driver saw him pick up the pace throughout the day and battle with James Williams in the Hyundai i20 for the final podium spot.
The British Rally Championship stays on gravel for round four,as the series makes the trip to the Grampian Forest Rally near Aberdeen in August.
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