OSIAN Pryce returns to the World Rally Championship this week with his eyes firmly fixed on the sport’s biggest prize.

The 23-year-old driver is competing in this year’s Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy (DDFT), which means entering five WRC rallies in a Ford Fiesta R2T, against the best competition from around the world.

The first round is the Vodafone Rally of Portugal (May 19-22), run in the north of the country on fast gravel roads around Porto.

DDFT victory in 2016 would give Pryce, from Aberangell, and co-driver Dale Furniss the keys to the next step on the road to rallying glory - a full season of WRC2 competition next year. WRC2 is the feeder series for the World Rally Championship itself.

“I’m so excited about this season,” said Pryce. "We’ve waited a long time for this opportunity and now Dale and I are going to grab it with both hands.”

WRC action is nothing new for Pryce, who played a starring role on the first two Junior WRC rounds last season, before mechanical problems halted his charge in Portugal then cost him a win in Poland.

Those disappointments are behind him now.

“What happened last year is history,” said Pryce. “What I do take from those two events is experience. Twelve months ago, I was going to Portugal, my first foreign world championship event ever, and I really didn’t know what to expect.

"I must admit, I was really nervous this time last year. But then I got there and Dale and I were on the pace – that has helped to really settle me down for this season.”

DDFT is a joint venture between DMACK Tyres and two-time World Rally Champion firm M-Sport.

All the Ford Fiesta R2Ts are prepared to an identical specification and run by M-Sport on DMACK rubber for the five rallies to come.

Pryce and Furniss met their fellow DDFT crews at a two-day induction course at M-Sport’s impressive Dovenby Hall base in Cumbria.

“Spending the two days up there was really useful,” said Pryce, “we got to meet everybody, including the engineers and guys from M-Sport and we got to do some workshops and a bit of training.

“One of the most impressive and exciting things was knowing who had walked through that front door at M-Sport before us – drivers like Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Marcus Gronholm.

"I know we are in a completely different situation to the one they were in, but that’s our target and a place like Dovenby Hall really inspires you to achieve and fulfill your goals.”

Pryce tested a Ford Fiesta R2T for the first time this week.

“I started competing in a Fiesta,but this is a very different car to that one,"he said.

"This R2T’s an amazing piece of engineering – with plenty of power coming from a one-litre, three-cylinder engine.

"The chassis is fantastic and really rewarding to drive. I only did half a day testing the car, but that was enough for me to know I’ve made the right move this year.”

Pryce’s five-part adventure starts from Matosinhos, near Porto, in Portugal on Thursday.