PRYCE CAN WIN BRC TITLE WITH TRACKROD VICTORY
VW Polo GTI R5 driver on the cusp of making British history this weekend
Osian Pryce will win the British Rally Championship for the first time if he wins this weekend’s Trackrod Rally Yorkshire.
Pryce is battling with four-time BRC winner Keith Cronin, who is seeking to equal Jimmy McRae’s record of five titles this year. But with Pryce recording three wins so far to Cronin’s two, and a competitor’s best five results from seven counting towards their final score, another win for Pryce would put him out of Cronin’s reach.
Pryce told MN: “I didn’t realise until very recently actually. I thought we still had quite a bit of work to do, but with the number of wins, if we get another one in the bank we should take it. It doesn’t matter what happens on the Cambrian then for Keith – if we don’t go he still can’t catch us. Ideally, with how the budget is, it would be nice to try and get the job done as the Cambrian’s going to be a bit of a struggle.
“Keith’s obviously going to go for it like a coiled up spring so we’ve got to be mindful of that,” Pryce added. “But he’s off the back of quite a big bang as well. I think it’s going to be quite a good battle, but I don’t see why it can’t be done. If we start well that should put us in good form.”
Pryce heads the Trackrod entry from Cronin, Ruairi Bell, James Williams and Garry Pearson, but Jason Pritchard’s season has ended early. He explained: “We’ve obviously had a bit of a bad run this year, it’s just like 2011 – a year to forget. We’re hiring the car which costs a fair bit and there’s nothing really to gain from doing the two events, so ourselves and the sponsors have decided to concentrate on next year.”