Osian Pryce and James Morgan have been crowned 2026 Motorsport UK British Rally Champions after surviving one of the most dramatic final-round battles in the championship’s history, edging Max McRae by just 1.2 seconds to claim a second career title for Pryce on the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian Rally [24 October].
In biblical conditions, with torrential rain and punishing winds turning the Welsh forests into some of the toughest stages of the season, Pryce delivered when it mattered most, holding his nerve through nine demanding tests to secure the championship in spectacular fashion.
After six rounds and hundreds of competitive stage miles, the destination of the British Rally Championship came down to the final stage of the season. Three crews arrived in North Wales with a mathematical chance of taking the crown, but as the drama unfolded, the battle became a breathtaking final-stage duel between Pryce and McRae, with the title ultimately decided by the smallest of margins.
Driving the Michelin-backed Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 for the Castrol MEM Rally Team, Pryce had endured a season of contrasting fortunes. Victories on the Severn Valley Stages and Grampian Forest Rally had established the Welshman as an early championship favourite, but retirement on Sunday at Rali Ceredigion had thrown his title ambitions into doubt.
McRae and co-driver Cameron Fair, competing in their Pirelli-supported Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, made the perfect start to the morning, setting the early benchmark across the opening two stages. Pryce, meanwhile, was hampered by a minor technical niggle with his Toyota, leaving him second overall, while Evans and Dale Furniss were just 3.7 seconds behind their Castrol MEM team-mates.
With all three title contenders separated by mere seconds, the championship was perfectly poised before the first major twist. McRae spun in standing water on the third stage, losing around 15 seconds and handing Pryce the lead, with Evans moving into second. Suddenly, the advantage had swung towards the Welshman, but the title fight remained wide open.
For Evans, however, the dream was about to end. Caught out under braking on the fifth test, the Welshman went off the road and was unable to continue, bringing his rally and championship challenge to a premature conclusion.
McRae chipped away at the deficit straight out of the mid-point service, attacking through the treacherous conditions and transforming a 15.9-second gap into just 5.9 seconds heading into the final stage; a title on the line. McRae threw everything at the stage, taking a blistering 4.7 seconds out of Pryce to bring the margin down to just 1.2 seconds, but it was not enough.
After a season-long battle, the Welshman and Morgan had done just enough, securing the rally victory and Pryce’s second British Rally Championship title, having first claimed the crown in 2022, while Morgan celebrated his first championship success.
“I never thought I’d be in the position to win this title again”, said Pryce “We’ve had our ups and downs since the last one, but I’ve kept persevering, and it just goes to show that everyone who has helped me, as long as I get the support, I can put it together on the day. A massive thanks to everybody; I can’t name everybody, obviously, as there are just so many people!
“Credit to Max & Cammy, Meirion and Dale as well; it’s been a tough season. It’s been quite exciting bringing it down to the last stage of the last rally, but I’d have rather it been a bit of a bigger gap! A big thanks to James as well; I wouldn’t have been able to do this without him because his knowledge has been paramount with this car, but we’ve really settled into it.
For McRae and Fair, the result was a bitterly close end to a campaign that had established the young Scot as a leading force in British rallying. McRae:
“I don’t know what to say”, he said. “I was off the road in there [the last stage] more than I was on the road. That was the hardest stage I’ve ever driven. That is gutting, but we fought so hard”.
Charlie Tuthill completed the overall podium in impressive style, making a memorable British Rally Championship debut by guiding his Ford Fiesta Rally3 to third overall, with Sion Williams alongside. The performance also secured victory in the BRC3 category, an outstanding achievement against the Rally2 machinery in some of the most challenging conditions of the season.
Brendan Cumisky completed the top four overall, rounding out a demanding event that provided a fittingly brutal end to the 2026 championship.
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BRC3
With Tuthill sitting on the overall podium and the inevitable BRC3 win, Junzhe Tang and Tsungyu Hsieh travelled from China and Taiwan respectively, with Hsieh claiming the BRC3 co-drivers’ crown and bringing their debut British Rally Championship campaign to a memorable conclusion.
Junior BRC
If the BRC1 championship delivered a dramatic conclusion, the Junior British Rally Championship provided an equally extraordinary fight for the crown, with Luke Constantine and Ifan Devine emerging victorious after a final-stage reversal of fortune that decided the title in the closing moments of the season.
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The opening stages delivered exactly the kind of close competition expected, with Constantine taking the early advantage before Ben McFall fought back to leave just 0.3 seconds between the pair heading into the afternoon loop.
McFall seized the initiative after service, producing a determined afternoon charge to claw back the deficit and move ahead. By the time the crews reached the final stage of the season, he had built a 14.7-second advantage over Constantine and appeared poised to overturn his rival’s challenge.
But a dramatic final stage saw a severely misted windscreen forcing McFall to stop and demist the glass, costing the Irishman more than 20 seconds and McFall saw the title slip away in the cruellest circumstances, handing Constantine the Junior BRC crown in a finish every bit as dramatic as the fight for the overall championship.
The Junior BRC crown also brings a significant reward, with free entries to each round of the 2027 British Rally Championship on offer to the leading contenders.
“Honestly, never give up because, I just can’t believe it” said Constantine. “Everyone was messaging me before, saying don’t give up, keep going & we didn’t & I’m so proud of myself. Wow”.
Riley Chester/Robbie Sandford secured third in the Junior BRC contest, with Sam Mason/James Seymour finishing fourth. Robbie Wood continued to build his experience in the category, bringing his Peugeot 208 Rally4 home in fifth.
National Rally Title
The National Rally Title category endured a punishing Cambrian Rally, with the brutal conditions taking their toll on the crews still chasing championship honours.
A late roll for Arwel Parry and Catrin Price brought their rally to an end and denied Price the opportunity to claim the championship, leaving Harry Walshaw to secure the National Rally Title co-drivers’ honours despite his own non-finish alongside Alfie Hammond.
Michael Jenkins and Christian Brown also contested the event in their Ford Fiesta R2, but were among those unable to reach the finish of a particularly punishing rally.
From the overall championship being decided by 1.2 seconds to Constantine’s last-stage Junior BRC triumph, the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian Rally delivered a season finale that will be remembered for years to come.
After six rounds of intense competition, the 2026 Motorsport UK British Rally Championship has drawn to a close with its leading titles decided in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.
Attention now turns to 2027, with next year’s British Rally Championship calendar set to be released in the coming weeks.
All championship titles remain provisional until ratified by Motorsport UK.
-Ends
