The opening round of the British Rally Championship was full of drama for our Carbon Positive Ambassadors.
Carbon Positive Motorsport launched its brand in the British Rally Championship in 2021, working with triple British Rally Champion Matt Edwards. This successful partnership highlighted the importance of the championship in raising awareness of the need to act on the environmental impact of the sport, and to help make motorsport sustainable for future generations to enjoy.
This year's British Rally Championship got underway with the Corbeau Seats Tendring and Clacton Rally. The closed road event became the perfect start to our new ambassador Osian Pryce’s British Rally Championship title challenge. Co-driven by Noel O’Sullivan, the pair closed in on leaders Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin and in an exciting battle took the lead on SS12 – extending a 0.5 second advantage to a 5.4 second winning margin over the final two stages.
Picture courstesy of Osian Pryce
The rally was full of drama for our other Carbon Positive Motorsport ambassador, Garry Pearson. After a strong start on the rally which brought him to within 2 seconds of the lead at one point, and a sure podium position, the UK national Rally Champion and his new co-driver Dale Furniss had an unfortunate high speed off in an area without spectators.
Stranded off road the pair were unable to re-join, but thankfully crew and car were unharmed in the incident. The pair are now setting their sights on building from a very promising BRC debut to the next round of the British and Scottish Rally Championship, the Beatson's Building Supplies Jim Clark Reivers Rally, in Garry's hometown of Duns. With local knowledge and speed – hopes for a strong result are not without foundation!
Carbon Positive Motorsport director Steve Smith said, "Congratulations to Osian and Noel on their win at the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton - winning the rally at their first attempt was a magnificent achievement – made even more remarkable by the fact that Osian only used four medium compound Michelin tyres throughout the 63-stage mile event!"
“I’ve made slow starts in the British Rally Championship before which has immediately put me on the back foot, so this time I was determined to start well. I’m really chuffed that we managed to nail it and that everything went to plan,” added Osian.
“Although the stages were relatively short there were some very fast sections where you needed a lot of commitment. The stages were similar in character to some events that I’ve done in northern France and Belgium. They were a good challenge and I really enjoyed them.
“We had a race on our hands to catch Keith Cronin, and with Noel doing another fantastic job on the pace notes I was confident that we could overtake him.
“The pace was pretty fast but we never pushed it to the absolute limit, never put a scratch on the car and only used four Michelin tyres all event – so to win was a very nice feeling indeed."
The next round of the British Rally Championship, and the KNC Groundworks Scottish Rally Championship, is the Beatson's Building Supplies Jim Clark Reivers Rally on 29th May 2022.
Rally Tendring & Clacton Top Ten Results
1. Osian Pryce/Noel O’Sullivan (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)….42mins 38.4secs
2. Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)….42mins 43.8secs
3. James Williams/Dai Roberts (Hyundai I20 R5)….42mins 59.6secs
4. Elliot Payne/Tom Woodburn (Ford Fiesta Rally2)….44mins 31.3secs
5. Thomas Preston/Carl Williamson (Ford Fiesta R5)….44mins 59.3secs
6. Ola Nore Jr/Jack Morton (Ford Fiesta Rally4)….46mins 09.5secs
7. Craig Jones/Ian Taylor (Ford Fiesta 4X4)….46mins 09.5secs
8. Eamonn Kelly/Conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta Rally 4)….46mins 11.8secs
9. Michael O'Brien/Mark Glennerster (Ford Focus WRC05)….46mins 13.4secs
10. Kyle White/Sean Topping (Peugeot 208 Rally 4)….46mins 16.3secs
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