OSIAN Pryce has spoken of his pride after he and co-driver Dale Furniss secured a dominant overall victory at last weekend’s Rally North Wales at the wheel of their Ford Fiesta R5.

Fresh from a podium spot at the opening round of the MSA British Rally Championship, Pryce was fastest on each of the event’s six stages, to win by a margin of over 1 min 20 sec from second-placed Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton in a similar machine.

Subaru pilot Dylan Davies, of Llanon, and co-driver Llion Williams took the final podium spot in third.

“We didn’t come here specifically for the win but it’s great to have taken victory on an event that’s so close to my doorstep,” said Pryce at the finish.

“It’s only my second outing in the car so we still have plenty to work on, but we are moving in the right direction ‘pace wise’. Doing the whole rally on just four tyres meant we lost a little grip towards the end, but we had enough of a lead to back off a bit on that last one. It’s been a great day.”

With heavy overnight rain, the forests of Dyfi and Gartheiniog proved to be tough going for many of the 100 crews, which had started the popular Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club organised event.

The morning loop consisted of three stages and the first test of the day would be the longest at over 11 miles.

Pryce opened a huge 20 second advantage over Thorburn in the opener, despite the quick release steering wheel coming adrift on the stage.

This lead would never be relinquished and Pryce, from Machynlleth, stayed out of trouble for the remainder of the day to cross the ceremonial finish in Dolgellau with a very well-deserved overall victory.

He also took maximum points in the MSA Welsh Rally Championship.

Thorburn felt uneasy during the opening loop in the morning, citing a poor tyre choice for the loss of time to Pryce. The Scotsman bolted on a different tyre pattern in the afternoon and instantly found a better pace, but by that time, Pryce was into the distance and second place overall was as good as Thorburn could manage.

Davies fought with a stuck flat shift in the first three tests, but still challenged Thorburn’s second spot on a number of stages. He brought the Impreza home in third, ahead of David Howells and Jamie Edwards in their older shape Subaru in fourth. Ieuan Rowlands and Emyr Hall were the first two wheel drive runners in a fine fifth spot in their Ford Escort MK2.

Nick Elliott and Dave Price was another crew to stay out front all day long with a dominant performance in the Historic event, to take the Mintex MSA British Rally Championship honours from Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke, both crews using the crowd pleasing Ford Escort MK2.

Elliott took a huge chunk of time from pre-event favourite Pritchard in the opening stage. Pritchard admitted to not having a good feeling in the car on the opener and the times reflected that early on. A puncture in the second stage did little to help his confidence, but the Builth Wells driver later found his pace to take second spot.

Joe Price and Chris Brooks were set for a Historic podium, but their rally ended when they put their Escort on its side on stage four, which allowed Devon’s Rudi Lancaster and Guy Weaver to claim the final podium.

Former British Champion and two-time event winner David Llewellin returned to the stages in a Suzuki Swift, courtesy of the Swift Shining Stars series. The Welshman had a little less power than he was used to but he and co-driver Carl Williamson took the Swift win by three minutes, from Tom Delaney and Joe Cruttenden.