OSIAN Pryce is aiming to become the first British driver ever to lift the coveted Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy title in the World Rally Championship.

For aspiring junior drivers, the DDFT remains the most valuable prize on offer in the WRC, with seven rounds of the 2017 series up for grabs in a state-of-the-art, turbo-charged, four-wheel drive Ford Fiesta R5.

Pryce, from Machynlleth, and his co-driver Dale Furniss have already landed two of those drives already, and they go to RallyCatalunya-Costa Daurada (Rally of Spain) leading the Championship and looking to land a further three prize drives.

“The way the championship is organised has changed for this year," said Pryce.

"In previous seasons the winner of the title took all seven drives, but this time the organisers have paired some of the rallies, to spread the prize around.

"We took most points from Portugal and Poland, so we won the first one. Unfortunately, a small mistake in Finland cost me some points, but we were winning again last time out in Germany, and that’s given me this great opportunity next week.”

A third DDFT win from five starts would be enough for Pryce to be crowned champion, which would be comfortably the biggest moment of his career.

Next week’s Salou-based rally comes with the added complication of a mix of asphalt and gravel surfaces. Up until now the previous DDFT rounds have run solely on one or the other.

That doesn’t worry Pryce, however, as they’ve won on gravel in Portugal and asphalt in Germany this season.

“I’m looking forward to driving the two surfaces,” said Pryce.

“It’s like getting two rallies in one. All I can do is go there and give it my best shot.

"Dale and I have prepared as well as we possibly could, we’ve done exactly the same as we have for the other rallies.

"Basically, if we go well on the rally and score well on the rally then the championship will follow.

"At the moment, the momentum’s with us – all we’ve got to do is keep it there."

Pryce takes a 14-point lead into the final round. Victory in Spain would mean him taking two drives for scoring more points than anybody in Spain and Germany and one extra drive for scoring more points than anybody across the whole season.

Leaving no stone unturned, Pryce has turned to arguably the world’s finest driver coach Rob Wilson for advice.

“I spent a day with Rob after Germany,” said Pryce. “He’s a bit of a legend to be honest, he’s worked with lots of rally drivers and most of the world’s leading Formula One drivers.

"It really helped working with Rob, the basic message was about being as efficient as possible with the car.

“Basically, it’s about finding tenths of seconds. These rallies are so close between all the DDFT guys, every tenth of a second counts.

"One tenth could be the difference between getting a bonus point for a stage win or not and that bonus point could be the difference between scoring more points than anybody else or not. Score more points and you take the title.

“All it takes is a tenth of a second.”

Pryce and Furniss start the biggest rally of their careers in Barcelona today (Thursday, 13 October).