Severn Valley Toyota Yaris debut

Osian Pryce will make his competition debut in a Castrol MEM Rally Team Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on this weekend’s Severn Valley Stages (Saturday 11 April) – and after a short test, the 2022 British champion sees no reason why he can’t challenge for victory in the new car on the opening round of the 2026 British Rally Championship.

The 33-year old Machynlleth-born ace drove the Michelin-shod Yaris for the first time yesterday at Gorsedd Bran forest in Denbighshire and was impressed with its feel and performance.

Indeed, Osian would have happily rallied the Toyota exactly as it arrived out of the Melvyn Evans Motorsport (MEM) transporter – but as his co-driver James Morgan (from Llandysul in Ceredigion) has been competing in a Yaris Rally2 on FIA World Rally Championship events for the past two years (with Estonian driver Georg Linnamäe), they were able to experiment with subtle set up changes to fine tune the car even more.

With the Severn Valley Stages containing just over 50 stage miles in the classic mid-Wales forests of Sarnau, Myherin and Tarenig, a good start will be the key to success – as Osian embarks on his first gravel rally in a four-wheel drive car since the 2024 Cambrian Rally almost 18 months ago.

Having won the Severn Valley Stages in 2024, Osian has been seeded at number one and run as the first BRC car on the road in what will be his 125th rally start.

“Having now driven the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be aiming for a win on the Severn Valley Stages this weekend,” says Osian.

“There can be a certain amount of apprehension jumping into a new car for the first time just a few days before a rally. It’s not the ideal way of doing things, but this time I was pretty chilled, just looking forward to driving it, and I was happy with the car straight away.

“We could have used the car on the Severn Valley as it was, but as James [Morgan] has experience of the car, having navigated in one for the last two years on World Championship events, he suggested some changes and brought it forward even more.

“There wasn’t much doubt in my mind that I’d gel with the car, yet it was still reassuring to know that everything I’d heard about the Toyota was correct and I felt comfortable in it straight away.

“My team-mate Meirion Evans drove my car with me sitting alongside at the end of the test, because we did some changes that were different to what he’s done in the past, and to see if he would benefit from what we’d done. It was nice to sit back and see what the car is capable of, without being fully engrossed in trying to do the driving properly. It was a very interesting and positive experience.

“The test was very productive, and we didn’t just learn something for this weekend’s Severn Valley but for future gravel rallies as well. We tried a few scenarios, so when conditions change during the season we’ve got a bit of ammunition in our back pockets.

“The Severn Valley is only fifty stage miles long, so it will be important to make a good start. It will be pretty flat-out from the word go, and that might work against me compared to Meirion and Max [McRae] and some of the other guys, because they’ve obviously had a couple more outings in their cars. But there are some sections in the rally where you can claw time back, so even if we’re not where we need to be after the opening stage, as long as we’re not far away then we can build on that throughout the day.

“I’m also happy with being seeded at car number one. At the end of the day, I won the rally two years ago, so it’s our turn to run first on the road and I’m looking forward to it. Having a clean road ahead might even suit me. It is what it is and we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.”

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, Gorsaf Betrol Tymawr, Diogel Events, J.E Rees & Sons, Jordan Road Surfacing, Glenbrook, and his own family-run specialist building firm G+M Pryce.