Osian’s world championship season ready for fast-forward…
24.06.16
News release
Osian’s world championship season ready for fast-forward…
World Rally Championship class-leading Welshman Osian Pryce stands on the verge of landing the biggest prize of his life at next week’s Rally Poland.
Pryce won the opening round of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy – the World Rally Championship’s most valuable support series – in Portugal last month and knows a repeat result on round two will bag him two factory WRC2 drives in next year’s world championship.
This year’s five-round DDFT series has been split into three scoring opportunities with the driver taking the most points from Portugal and Poland, Poland and Finland, Germany and Spain winning two drives in next year’s official WRC feeder category.
A stunning Rally of Portugal win means a repeat result at Rally Poland will guarantee Osian and co-driver Dale Furniss their first two professional drives in the world championship.
The good news for the 23-year-old from Machynlleth is that he has experience of next week’s terrain. He competed in Poland last year, dominating his class until an alternator problem robbed him of the victory on the final day.
“Next week is a very, very big deal for Dale and I,” said Osian. “There’s no two ways about it: if we get the right result in Poland, it’ll be huge for our careers.”
Pryce is a man with a plan for Poland.
“The plan is for more of the same, more of what we did in Portugal,” he said. “We drove our own rally; we were sensible and kept a little bit in reserve just in case the roads got really rough. We’ve talked about next week a lot and we’re sure that’s the way to go. Poland is an awful lot faster than Portugal, the stages are flat-out much of the time, but we showed we could deal with them last year.
“Portugal was my first event in the Ford Fiesta R2T and by the end of that event, I felt like I was really on top of the car. Now, I can’t wait to get back in it and drive it again in Poland.
“It would be silly to say there’s no pressure on Dale and I, of course there is. But we banked some really good points with the win in Portugal and now it’s about us finishing the job – or the first part of the job – next week.
“One of the interesting facets of Poland is that it counts as a score for this first round of rallies and for the second round, where it’s paired with Rally Finland. Probably more than any other event in the season, it’s vital we get a good result next week.”
Osian will test his M-Sport-run Fiesta on Monday next week, but he’s enjoying some seat time this weekend as well. Invited to the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, Osian’s mixing it with Britain’s three-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and the great and good of world motorsport.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to come to Goodwood,” Osian said, “and a real honour to be invited. I’m driving M-Sport’s own Fiesta R2T down here, which is fantastic. I must admit, the South Downs aren’t exactly the same as Poland, but it’s time in the car polishing off some of the rust. And just being here’s brilliant as well – it’s an amazing event.
“I haven’t seen Lewis yet, maybe he’ll come up to the rally stage to see how us DDFT boys do it over the weekend. If not, I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for him on the hill!”
- ends
Meet Osian…
Date of birth: 24.02.93
Lives: Machynlleth
Co-driver: Dale Furniss
First rally: Rally Kurzeme (Latvia) August 2009 – 37thoverall, eighth 2WD
Rally starts: 58
British Rally Championship event wins: 5*
British Rally Championship results: 2nd(2013/14), 3rd(2012)
World Rally Championship starts: 6
World Rally Championship class wins: 2
Website: osianpryce.com
* Including Osian’s dominant National Rally Cup victory on this year’s Mid Wales Stages
About Rally Poland
June 30-July 3
Based: Mikolajki
Surface: gravel
Stages: 21
Competitive distance: 306.10km (190.21 miles)
Total distance: 1253.29km (778.79 miles)
Website: www.rajdpolski.pl
Rally Poland itinerary
Thursday June 30
Start Mikolajki main square 1600
SS1 Mikolajki Arena 1 2.50km (1.55 miles) 1908
Friday July 1
SS2 Chmielewo 1 6.52km (4.05 miles) 0715
SS3 Wieliczki 1 17.30km (10.75 miles) 0900
SS4 Swietajno 1 21.14km (13.13 miles) 1010
SS5 Stare Juchy 1 13.50km (8.38 miles) 1055
Service Mikolajki 1240
SS6 Chmielewo 2 6.52km (4.05 miles) 1355
SS7 Wieliczki 2 17.30km (10.75 miles) 1540
SS8 Swietajno 2 21.14km (13.13 miles) 1650
SS9 Stare Juchy 2 13.50km (8.38 miles) 1735
SS10 Mikolajki Arena 2 2.50km (1.55 miles) 1928
Service Mikolajki 1948
Saturday July 2
SS11 Goldap 1 14.75km (9.16 miles) 0955
SS12 Stanczyki 1 25.27km (15.70 miles) 1125
SS13 Babki 1 21.02km (13.06 miles) 1215
Remote tyre zone Goldap 1315
SS14 Stanczyki 2 25.27km (15.70 miles) 1450
SS15 Babki 2 21.02km (13.06 miles) 1540
SS16 Goldap 2 14.75km (9.16 miles) 1650
SS17 Mikolajki Arena 3 2.50km (1.55 miles) 1908
Service Mikolajki 1928
Sunday July 3
SS18 Baranowo 1 21.25km (13.20 miles) 0820
SS19 Sady 1 8.55km (5.31 miles) 0908
Service Mikolajki 0935
SS20 Baranowo 2 21.25km (13.20 miles) 1050
SS21 Sady 2 8.55km (5.31 miles) 1208
Finish Mikolajki main square 1400
Media contact:
Andrzej Borowczyk +48 721 527453
a.borowczyk@rallypoland.pl
Now say hello to the Ford Fiesta R2T
Engine: 999cc turbo, 12-valve, three cylinders
Max power: 180bhp @ 6,200rpm
Max torque: 250Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Sadev five-speed sequential gearbox, plated limited-slip differential and uprated driveshafts
Suspension: Adjustable Reiger dampers, Eibach springs
Brakes: 285mm discs four-piston calipers (front gravel); 310mm discs four-piston calipers (front asphalt); 280mm discs two-piston calipers (rear); hydraulic handbrake
Wheels: OZ Racing 6x15-inch (gravel); 6.5x15-inch (asphalt)
Dimensions: length 3982mm; width 1695mm; height 1481mm; wheelbase 2490mm
Weight: 1030kg
Osian’s guide to 2016
Osian and Dale will contest five rounds of the World Rally Championship in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. Here’s the details and an Osian download on the big five.
Been and gone…
Rally Portugal
May 19-22
Based: Matosinhos
Surface: gravel
Osian outings: 1 (2015, retired - mechanical)
Result: 1st
Stage wins: 4
Stages led: 1
Osian and Dale took a sensible approach to the first half of the Porto-based opener, but still remained in the top three throughout the event. Moved to the front on the final day and took the win by almost two minutes.
Up and coming…
Rally Poland
June 30-July 3
Based: Mikolajki
Surface: gravel
Osian outings: 1 (2015, 2ndJunior WRC)
Osian says: “Poland was a real bitter-sweet experience for Dale and I last year. We led the Junior WRC round for pretty much the whole event, only to suffer an alternator problem on the final day. We finished second and I was absolutely gutted. Imagine that… second on only my second ever Junior WRC round and I was disappointed; that shows how close we’d come to winning.
“Poland was probably the fastest rally I had ever done. And the stages this year will be just as quick, demanding exactly the same commitment and the perfect set of pace notes to get them right. Carrying speed through the corners is so important – it’s in these areas that this rally will be won or lost.”
Rally Finland
July 28-31
Based: Jyvaskyla
Surface: gravel
Osian outings: 0
Osian says: “Talk to anybody involved in rallying and they’ll talk about Finland. It’s the spiritual home of our sport. OK, recently we’ve had a couple of French guys dominating the sport, but Finland’s where it’s at when it comes to the big heroes in the world championship. And you only have to take a look at the roads to see why some of the best drivers in the world come from here. The speed’s high and the jumps are just incredible – we’ll be flying through the air for 30 or 40 metres at more than 100mph this summer. Can’t wait for take off!”
Rally Germany
August 18-21
Based: Trier
Surface: asphalt
Osian outings: 0
Osian says: “This is a rally of three parts: the vineyard stages, the military testing ground and the country stages. The vineyards are absolutely full of hairpins, winding their way up and down the Mosel valley; absolute precision on the handbrake is called for here. Baumholder is an area used by the army to test tanks, which means plenty of surface changes from good asphalt to really broken concrete; the big danger here is from hinkelsteins, these are massive lumps of rock at the side of the road used to keep tanks on the straight and narrow. And if they don’t move for tanks, they’re not about to move for our Ford Fiesta R2T!
“Finally, the country roads. We’ll feel a bit more at home here, these are not too dissimilar to what we see in Ireland. And, running through the countryside, these stages are prone to the same kind of cow-related surface changes we see in Ireland…”
Rally of Spain
October 13-16
Based: Salou
Surface: gravel/asphalt
Osian outings: 0
Osian says: “Two rallies in one when we get to the final event in Catalunya. The first day is on the gravel, which looks to be fairly similar in places to Portugal, but then it’s a weekend on the asphalt. The Tarmac stages are all really nice and now some of the most famous in the world. Generally, they’re double-width roads which flow quite nicely and allow you to carry good speed.
“Like the four events before Spain, I can’t wait to get there and try them out for myself!”
About the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy
The brainchild of M-Sport World Rally Team principal Malcolm Wilson and DMACK managing director Dick Cormack, the DDFT takes the best young drivers from around the world and pitches them into a five-round fight for the biggest prize south of the World Rally Championship itself.
There’s a season in a Ford Fiesta R5 car at rallying’s second tier – WRC2 – on offer to the winner after five rounds. The structure of DDFT has changed slightly this season, with rallies being paired (Portugal and Poland; Poland and Finland; Germany and Spain) and the crew gathering the most points from each of those two rallies will win two rallies in the R5 car next season.
Winning a full WRC2 season of 2017 competition in an M-Sport Fiesta R5 will require consistent speed from Osian and Dale this year.
Media contact:
Sandra Evans
+44 7887 693993
sandra@wordspr.com
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