British Rally Champion Osian Pryce had a frustrating return to the ultra-fast Rally Liepāja last weekend and narrowly missed out on a top ten place.
After almost an hour and a half of flat-out competition, Osian Pryce finished just 32.1 seconds away from a top 10 finish on the Tet Rally Liepāja in only his second FIA European Rally Championship event in a Škoda Fabia Rally2.
The changing conditions, which switched from dry and dusty to wet and slippery, weren’t helpful as Pryce tried to find the best loose-surface set-up on his new car, yet the Michelin Talent Factory driver was still able to set a pace that was only one second per kilometre slower that the regular ERC drivers – which is a remarkable feat, given that he has had so little seat time in the MAPO Motorsport-prepared car and that this was his first rally in Latvia for 13 years.
Some technical tweaks that Pryce made improved the Fabia, as he and co-driver Stéphane Prévot moved from 13th to 11th on day one.
However, some adjustments simply didn’t work but instead made the car more difficult to drive and on day two Pryce slipped back to finish 14th.
“My lack of experience with the Fabia is showing and we’ve been chasing our tails as regards to set up on this event – but we know the pace is there and it’s just a case of unlocking it,” said Pryce.