Osian extends BRC lead

Osian Pryce has extended his lead at the top of the British Rally Championship standings after scoring maximum points on the Voly Grampian Forest Rally (7/8 August).

Held on the ultra-fast Aberdeenshire gravel roads, the Grampian is notoriously low-grip. The set-up on Osian’s car had to be constantly adjusted – not just to find traction, but to adapt to a changing road surface that ranged from very loose gravel to smooth, swept sections and rough, rocky roads.

Co-driven by James Morgan, the 2022 champion took the BRC lead after the second stage and, despite an engine pop-off valve issue with his Castrol MEM Rally Team Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, led the BRC standings by an impressive 11.2 seconds going into Friday’s overnight halt.

With so little remaining constant, driving the Michelin-shod Toyota on the limit was not easy – yet the 33-year-old Machynlleth-born driver put all his experience to good use as he gradually increased his BRC advantage over Saturday’s stages.

A controlled and polished performance saw Osian eventually secure a comfortable 26.1-second BRC victory, finishing fourth overall behind three FIA World Rally Championship drivers and ahead of another.

After victory on the opening Severn Valley and a third-place finish on the Jim Clark, Osian has increased his BRC lead to 10 points as the series reaches half-distance.

“It’s been a good weekend, and championship-wise we did exactly what we needed to do,” said Osian.

“We came here to do a job and score as many points as possible, and we achieved that. We were in amongst the leading guys anyway, but there was no need to push that extra bit and take unnecessary risks when it wasn’t going to make any difference to our championship result.

“We weren’t completely happy with the car all weekend and struggled a little with the handling. We made a few changes and sometimes they worked, while other times they didn’t – we changed something before the final stage which, logically, should have been the right thing to do, but unfortunately it went the other way. It felt like we were chasing our tail a little at times, so there’s definitely some work to do to get the car where we want it on gravel.

“But to come away with maximum British Rally Championship points is the most important thing. We’ve had a really strong start to the season, and you can’t ask for much more than the results we’ve had from the first three rounds. We’ve been in this position before and know what we need to do – it’s about keeping the points coming and building that championship lead. Wins and maximum scores are particularly important early in the season, so it’s great to have another one on the board.”

The next round of the British Rally Championship is the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion (4-6 September).

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.