Llandysul based rally team Spencer Sport recorded another impressive performance and a second podium result of the season at the Pirelli rally on the weekend.
Osian Pryce and his co-driver Dale Furniss in the Spencer Sport-run Fiesta R5 finished in the runners up spot to secure their second 2017 Prestone MSA British Rally Championship podium result of the campaign.
Based in Carlisle, the second round of this year’s British Rally Championship featured four stages on Saturday afternoon and a further four on Sunday morning, all of them held on the infamous gravel roads in Kielder Forest. Having finished third in the opening round and then, after completing an encouraging pre-rally test on Wednesday before the Pirelli, hopes were high in the Spencer Sport camp for another top result, even against stiff opposition in R5 machinery.
The opening stage saw Osian & Dale third fastest, just 2.4 seconds from the leaders Tom Cave/James Morgan in a Hyundai and 2.3 seconds from Fredrik Ählin/Torstein Eriksen in a Skoda. Maintaining their pace through the next two stages and Cave/Morgan retiring, the Welsh pair emerged from SS3 in second that meant they returned to Carlisle for the overnight halt 21.8 seconds behind Ahlin/Eriksen.
With the team making a series of changes to the Fiesta’s set up before the first of Sunday’s stages, Osian and Dale were ready to take the battle to the Scandinavian pair ahead of them. And that’s exactly what they did. On the first stage of the day they closed the gap to 13.8 seconds and then on the second, they decreased the margin to a slender 4.6 seconds.
With confidence in the car and comfortable with their pace, it looked certain that Osian and Dale would overhaul the leaders on the next stage. But it wasn’t to be. A mechanical issue had reduced the effectiveness of the handbrake, the consequence making things difficult when negotiating tighter corners and the many chicanes that had been erected by the organisers to keep speeds below the bogie time on the fast and flowing sections.
Frustratingly, Osian and Dale lost time to their rivals and did well to retain their second place until the end of the rally. At the finish, Osian said: “With the way the car felt this morning, I’m confident we could have claimed our first British Championship win with the Spencer Sport team. We started reeling in the leaders on the second day and got within just a handful of seconds, but we just couldn’t maintain the pace in the final two stages when the handbrake stopped working.”
“It’s rare for our car to have any issues at all and other than that, it ran perfectly. But to be honest, I’m chuffed to bits with this result and it puts us second in the BRC standings, which isn’t a bad place to be just two rounds into the season.”
Teammates James Williams and Dave Williams also had a good run in their Fiesta R2. To accompany 20-year old James, the team drafted in an experienced hand to perform co-driver duties. Indeed, Dave is no stranger to Spencer Sport, as he has regularly accompanied team principal Jamie Jukes over the past few years.
Throughout the event, James’ confidence grew and a consistent performance rewarded him with a finishing position of 19th overall and sixth in the Junior BRC category.
“After retiring from the opening round, I’m very happy to get to the finish of a British Championship event, especially one as tough as this in Kielder Forest. I’ve learnt a lot this weekend and take away a lot of positives from this rally”, said James.
The team now prepares for round three of the Prestone MSA British Rally Championship, the Dumfries-based Scottish Rally on 19th & 20th May.
As a Welsh-based operation, the Spencer Sport team would like to congratulate Elfyn Evans and his co-driver Daniel Barritt for finishing a close second in this weekend’s Rally Argentina, the fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The team would to thank its partners for their support: Spencer ECA, DMACK Tyres, Hills Ford, Alphera Financial Services, Nicky Grist Motorsports, PIAA UK, Speedline Corse UK, Atech Racing, Oil 4 Wales, HT Installations, Porter Dodson Solicitors, Omega Lubricants and West Wales Rally Spares.
