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Osian Pryce leads Welsh Forest Rally Championship
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Osian Pryce, who wears a Stilo ST5 Rally 8860 helmet, leads the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship after taking maximum points on the opening round, the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally, in a Spencer Sport Mitsubishi Mirage R5.
Co-driven by Dale Furniss, it was the Machynlleth-born driver’s first rally for six months and his first in a right-hand drive car. A spin on the opening stage cost Pryce between 20-25 seconds as he turned the car around on a narrow section of forest road, but he flew after that and set some impressive times in the Mirage.
Maximum co-driver points, however, went to Max Freeman as he claimed his first outright win on a stage rally. The 2016 champion junior co-drive and 2017 champion Group N co-driver teamed up with Derbyshire driver Ollie Mellors in his Proton Iriz with a last-minute entry to the event. It was the duo’s first rally together.
Although the snow and ice that cause the abandonment of last year’s event were absent, competitors reported that the special stages in the North Wales forests were extremely slippery. One of the first competitors to fall victim to the conditions was Simon Rogers who rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI heavily on the opening stage in Penmachno Forest. Simon was taking to hospital for precautionary checks but was able to attend the finish of the event on Llandudno seafront where he was full of praise for the event’s rescue and medical teams.
Matt Edwards took the lead on the opening stage, but the Llandudno driver clipped a tree stump on the next stage and retired his Swift Group Fiesta R5. He returned to the event later and set further fastest stage times, although two maximum stage times left him out of contention for overall honours.
Behind Pryce, Narberth’s Julian Reynolds finished second in the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship in his R5 spec Ford Fiesta – a great performance on his first rally in 18 months and only his fourth rally in a four-wheel drive car in the last 10 years! Hugh Hunter initially led, but lost time with a double puncture on SS5 and finished third in his new Fiesta WRC.
Former Welsh champions Luke Francis and John H Roberts were forced to retire their Ford Fiesta WRC after ripping a wheel off on SS5. Also out on the same stage, with mechanical problems on their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, were Group N leaders Tom Naughton and Will Rogers. That promoted former Group N champions Paul Davy and Roger Allen in their Subaru Impreza. They finished ahead of Dan Moss and Sam Allen in their Evo IX with Zak Hughes and Tom Wood taking third place in the Ford Fiesta ST.
The two-wheel drive category provided an inter-family battle with John Rowlands/Glen Latham taking the honours in their Ford Escort after Ieuan Rowlands/Emyr Hall suffered a late puncture on their Hillman Avenger.
New to the Championship for this year is the Ravenol Welsh Challenge for competitors who haven’t finished in the top 10 on a previous Championship round. Topping the driver and co-driver standings respectively are Evo IX crew Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear with Ford Escort pairing Rob Dennis and Andrew Boswell second, and Zak Hughes and Tom Wood third.
The next round of the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship is the Newtown-based Grooms Garage Mid Wales Stages on Sunday March 4.
