The aim was to finish the ORLEN 79th Rally Poland – after all, this was Osian Pryce’s first rally for seven months, in a new team, in a new car and with a new co-driver – and he achieved precisely that with a pitch-perfect, controlled, intelligent and drama free run to 16th on his FIA European Rally Championship debut out of 58 registered ERC drivers.
As the reigning British rally champion, Pryce is by nature an extremely competitive sportsman who competes to win. But on this occasion learning about his brand new Škoda Fabia Rally2, building a rapport with new co-driver Stéphane Prévot and getting to know his new MAPO Motorsport team were the key objectives – and that would be best achieved by completing all 16 stages and 113 stage miles.
The 30-year-old Machynlleth-born driver had contested Rally Poland (which is located in the Masurian lake district town of Mikołajki, a three-hour drive north of the capital Warsaw) three times before when it was a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, but not since 2017.
