Osian Pryce says that he is fully focused on continuing to close the gap at the top of the British Rally Championship, and recapture the lead as soon as possible, when he contests this weekend’s Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally Saturday 13 August.
Osian and co-driver Noel O’Sullivan finished runner-up in the event last year, and as the highest placed returnees they have been seeded at number one and will start first on the road in their Melvyn Evans Motorsport-prepared Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
The crew arrive in Banchory on fantastic form, having won two out of the three rounds of the BRC so far this year – including a dominant performance last time out on the Nicky Grist Stages, held in the similarly challenging loose surface gravel stages of the mid-Wales forests.
This will be Osian’s third appearance in the fast and flowing forest stages of Aberdeenshire – after he won his class in a Citroën DS3 R3T on the 2013 Granite City Rally and finished runner-up on the 2021 Grampian Forest Rally.
Having won the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton, Osian lost the lead of the 2022 BRC after being disqualified from the Jim Clark Rally for driving along a closed road stage on a puncture.
Sitting 18 points behind series leader Keith Cronin, victory on the Nicky Grist Stages sees Osian start the Grampian Forest Rally just 11 points behind – and determined to close the gap still further.
The scores to drop rule might still work in his favour come the end of the season, but for now taking another maximum BRC points score is all that Osian is focused on – as he starts the 101st rally of his career.
“I was grateful to have a good shakedown in the Volkswagen Polo on a gravel test road in west Wales this week – and I’m happy with how the car feels ahead of this weekend’s Grampian Forest Rally,” said Osian.
“Now the focus is one hundred per cent on this weekend’s event, which after a good run there last year is another round of the British Rally Championship that I’m really looking forward to.
