Welsh driver Osian Pryce leads the Prestone MSA British Rally Championship going into round five this weekend and will be aiming to extend his championship lead over Fredrik Ahlin
The Nicky Grist Stages, based in Builth Wells, runs over two days this weekend and features one day of gravel action on the Saturday using stages that have been previously used on Wales Rally GB, as well as a second day of action on the Epynt Military Ranges which is entirely tarmac based.
117 stage miles lie ahead for the crews on July 8 and 9 and the field will be led away by Pryce who leads the championship after Ahlin had a poor result last time out in Belgium on the Ypres Rally; the Swede only managing to salvage fifth after crashing on the first day of the event.
Despite claiming the championship lead as a result of Ahlin’s error, Pryce will be hoping to put his own incident behind him this weekend after having a big accident at Rally Poland last weekend.
Keith Cronin / Mikie Galvin Ford Fiesta R5
Photo Credit: @msabrc.com
Winner two weeks ago, Keith Cronin now lies third in the standings after a superb win gave the Irishman his first victory in five years and will be hoping to keep up the momentum this weekend in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5.
David Bogie, winner of his home event the Scottish Rally back in May, looks unfortunately set to not take part this weekend after crashing his Skoda Fabia R5 in Belgium and the car is not ready to compete in Wales.
A superb second in Belgium went the way of Matt Edwards, another driver aiming to impress on home soil this weekend. The youngster has proven on several occasions this weekend that he has the pace to compete at the front of the field.
The R5-spec cars are rounded out this weekend by Martin McCormack, Rhys Yates, Jamie Anderson, Thomas Preston, Alex Laffey, James Slaughter and BRC debutant Barry McKenna.
The Prestone Motorsport News Junior BRC class saw a fourth different winner in four events in Belgium as Callum Devine took the victory. Championship leader William Creighton, second last time out, will be aiming to extend his lead at the top of the standings as he battles with drivers including Devine, Meirion Evans; another driver hoping for success on home territory and Oscar Solberg.
William Creighton / Liam Regan Peugeot 208 R2
Photo Credit: @msabrc.com
BRCJ is rounded out in Wales by Marty Gallagher, third last time out James Williams and Josh McErlean who makes the step up to a Ford Fiesta R2T this weekend from his Citroen C2 R2.
The unbeaten Josh Cornwell will be aiming for win five of the season this weekend as he competes in the BRC Cadet class. Four other competitors take part this weekend, with Tom Williams, James McDiarmid, Alex Waterman and Nabila Tejpar all set to compete in Ford Fiesta R2’s.
Gee Atherton Photo Credit: @msabrc.com
Finally, the entry list is rounded out by two entries in the BRC4 class, with David White set to compete against world champion mountain biker Gee Atherton who returns after a three-round absence following a bike crash at Fort William back in May.
The Nicky Grist Stages take place this weekend between July 8-9.
