Powys town plays host to successful Nicky Grist Rally Stages

Powys County Times

2 days ago

DALE Furniss helped Meirion Evans to second place at last weekend's Nicky Grist Stages in Builth Wells.
The Llanrhaeadr co-driver partnered Evans in his in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 which ended two seconds behind rally winner William Creighton.
The pair lost 12 seconds with a spin on the opening stage, with the majority of the time lost thanks to the car failing to engage reverse gear.
The duo suffered had a puncture between SS2 and 3 and with grip levels compromised they arrived at mid-distance service in third place, 16.6 seconds behind the leaders.
Evans enjoyed a good clean run in the afternoon and set fastest time on three of the afternoon's four stages, which moved him from third to second to give the Castrol MEM Rally Team a superb one-two result at the top of the podium.
Osian Pryce got his preparations for an assault on the Roger Albert Clark Rally at the end of the year off to the best possible start with an outstanding performance.
Driving a Ford Escort RS1800 Mk2 built and supplied by Wales Motorsport for the first time, the 2022 British rally champion from Aberangell was the fastest 2WD competitor throughout the 45-stage mile event held in the mid Wales forests in and around the Mynydd Epynt military range.
Builth Wells mayor Mark Hammond flagged the cars away from the start of the Quinton Motor Club organised event from outside Strand Hall.
Taking no risks and driving well within himself, Pryce and co-driver Phil Pugh won the hotly contested Historic section of the event by more than a minute, won the BTRDA Silver Star section, finished third in the overall Welsh Rally Championship section and came home first two-wheel drive in a magnificent 12th position overall.
'This was my first gravel rally for nine months and my first in an Escort since the RAC Rally in 2023, so I'm very happy with both our performance and our result,' said Pryce.
'I'm shocked that we won the Historic section by over a minute. I'm not sure if others had problems, but I've been driving at seven and eight tenths all day. Maybe that helped in the hot and abrasive conditions, because in some stages I backed right off to manage the tyres and the times were still good.
'I had a good clean run with no mistakes, nailed all the lines and the car's been fabulous all day.
'To just jump into a new car and drive it, without a single issue, has been an absolute pleasure. It really showcases how good Wales Motorsport is at building and running a car.
'For my first event back preparing for the RAC Rally, it could not have gone any better.'
Pryce is supported by The Leading Edge, Demon Tweeks, Hills Ford, Bell, Haddo Energy, Superfast Properties, Red Kite Glass, Diogel Events, Gorsaf Betrol TyMawr, and his own family-run specialist building firm G+M Pryce.