Pryce wins BRC Round 5 - Rally Yorkshire
The penultimate round of the 2013 MSA British Rally Championship, Rally Yorkshire saw young Welshman Osian Pryce and co-driver Dale Furniss take a well-deserved second straight victory on this, their second full season in Britain's premier rally series but the rally was a real nail biter from start to finish, emulating last year's event with tenths of seconds splitting the drivers until all but the final group of stages.
Three times the lead of the rally changed with series leader Jukka Korhonen fighting tooth and nail with Pryce and Alastair Fisher, but it was Pryce who led ahead of the final test and the relentless pressure finally got to Korhonen who stalled the car on the start line, which, under other circumstances might not have been so important, but with such close margins, the ten seconds it took to restart the Citroen must have seemed a lifetime.
Unaware of his rival's slip-up, Pryce assumed that he still needed to push hard and he did, besting Fisher by nearly six seconds to end the event with a winning margin of nearly ten seconds, Fisher closing to within three of Korhonen, but having to settle for third.
While 20 year old Pryce from Machynlleth cannot win the overall title, the top three in the standings, Korhonen, Fisher and Cave; fourth in Yorkshire after a set-up error on Friday, all still have a mathematical chance of victory in the 2013 series.However, with 50% additional points available on the last round, there is a potential 30 points available to the winner, before one score is dropped by each driver, the 2013 title is the Finn's to lose, as he just needs a finish in the top dozen to secure the overall and Citroën Racing Trophy titles at the final round of the championship, Rallye Sunseeker.
Rallye Sunseeker, begins with a ceremonial start in Poole harbour on the evening of Friday 18 October with a full day of action, and 10 stages, on Saturday 19 October. The relatively short distance - just 58 stage miles - means that crews must attack from the very start of the first stage to stand a chance of success.
MSA British Rally Championship 2013 Championship Standings After 5 Rounds
1. Jukka Korhonen 94
2.= Alastair Fisher 74
2.= Tom Cave 74
4. Jonny Greer 70
5. Osian Pryce 62
6.= Daniel McKenna 56
6.= Mark Donnelly 56
8. Steve Rokland 46
9. Callum Black 45
10. John MacCrone 42
29th September, 2013