Osian Pryce is the only driver to finish both rounds of the British Rally Championship (BRC) on the podium this year, putting himself in a very strong position in the drivers’ standings.

However, the 28-year old Machynlleth born driver doesn’t want to make a habit of finishing third, and is out to win this weekend’s Grampian Rally in his Melvyn Evans Motorsport-prepared Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.

Having finished third on both the opening Neil Howard Stages at Oulton Park and the Nicky Grist Stages, Pryce is a well-placed fourth in the BRC table – just seven points behind leader Matt Edwards and 12 points clear of fifth placed Tom Cave.

Pryce's previous experience of rallying in the forests near Aberdeen is limited to an outing on the Granite City Rally, where he won his class in a Citroën DS3 R3T in 2013.

A short test at the Sweet Lamb rally complex has given him valuable seat time, and with every mile Osian becomes more in tune with his new-for-2021 Michelin gravel tyres.

The surface and road layout at the mid-Wales test are different to what awaits in Scotland, but the shakedown has got Pryce back into rally mode ahead of his long drive north.

Pryce will have additional support on the Grampian Rally from Moates Offshore, an Aberdeen-based marine engineering, fabrication, hydro testing, equipment hire and storage company.

Moates Offshore joins Osian’s other partners Rocked-!T, Liqui Moly, LM Performance, Auto Glanz, Omologato, Michelin, Custom Fasteners, The Forest Experience, DL Jones Wales Ltd, G&M Pryce Building Specialists, Hockly Motorsport and Demon Tweeks in supporting Pryce.

He said: “I like rallying in Scotland and the Grampian Rally is the one round of the British Rally Championship that I’m most looking forward to. I’d have probably done the event this year even if it wasn’t a round of the BRC.

“I’ve been seeded at number four, but hopefully there won’t be any dust issues like there were last time out on the Nicky Grist Stages.

“We’ve been the most consistent crew so far this year, with two third place finishes putting us in a strong position in the championship – but I don’t plan on making a habit of finishing third. We’ll be trying our very best to win in Scotland this weekend, you can be sure of that.

“I’d also like to give a big thank you to Moates Offshore for coming on board as a commercial partner and helping to make my outing on the Grampian Rally possible.”

The Grampian Rally consists of three stages run twice, with the six stages totalling 43.46 stage miles. A capacity entry of 120 cars will start the event at 8.41am from Banchory.