Osian Pryce is aiming to strengthen his position in the Probite British Rally Championship when he contests this weekend’s Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally (24/25 May) in his Dom Buckley RSC-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2.
The 31-year old Welshman is third in the BRC points table after winning the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages on gravel last time out. That was Osian’s first BRC victory since the 2022 Rally Yorkshire and Rhodri Evans’ first rally victory as a co-driver.
It’s a very strong championship position to be in heading to Round 3, for despite retiring from the opening round Osian’s DNF on the Legend Fires North West Stages will merely count as one of his two compulsory dropped scores at the end of the season.
Furthermore, the 2023 Tour European and 2022 British rally champion showed great pace on the closed roads of Lancashire, setting two fastest stage times and fighting for the lead before a mechanical issue in his Michelin-shod Fiesta Rally2 forced him out.
Two strong BRC performances fill Osian with confidence as he heads to the Scottish Borders, despite him having very little recent experience of the Jim Clark Rally. He did contest the event in 2022 but wasn’t allowed to start Leg 2 – and his last appearance before that was in 2014 when he finished second in the BRC category driving a Citroën DS3 R3T.
“I’m looking forward to the Jim Clark Rally, although it’s not an event that I have much recent experience of and there is at least one stage, Abbey St Bathans, that I haven’t done at all in this year’s configuration,” said Osian.
“The weather might play a part in the outcome of the event. There is certainly a lot of rain forecast before the start, and as the stages are quite close to the North Sea coast the weather conditions can change quickly. We had a pretty good set up in the wet at the North West Stages, but I hope it stays dry so the road surface is consistent, tyre choice is less of a gamble and we can have a good push through all the stages.
“The Jim Clark is an important event for us, as we’ve already dropped one score. We’re in a good position heading to Scotland and the plan is to strengthen that position by the time we have to leave.”
This year’s Jim Clark Rally contains two legs, with Leg 1 (6 stages / 39.78 stage miles) taking place on Friday 24 May and includes three stages run in the dark. After an overnight halt, Leg 2 on Saturday 25 May contains a further 8 stages / 47 stage miles before the finish ceremony in Duns at approx. 14:30 after all 14 stages / 86.78 stage miles have been completed.
