The 2022 Nicky Grist Stages brought a carnival atmosphere to Builth Wells at the weekend as 160 crews from six major British rally championships entertained the large number of visitors who created a magnificent buzz in the Service Area in Groe Park, writes Mark Griffin.

Held on the classic forest roads surrounding Mynydd Epynt and based in Builth, it was North Wales driver, Osian Pryce celebrating his one-hundredth rally start in the best possible manner by storming to victory.

Pryce and co-driver Noel O’Sullivan were a force to be reckoned with on the legendary gravel stages, taking their Volkswagen Polo GTi to five fastest stage times on their way to their second victory of the season. It would be Irishman Keith Cronin who was Pryce’s nearest challenger in second, whilst local man Jason Pritchard scooped his first BRC podium of the season in third.

A short compact route would mean the margin for error was minimal and it was Pryce that stole the march on the chasing pack with the fastest time over the opening Lyn Login test near Cwmowen. Cronin retaliated on the very next stage, Monument located above Llangammarch, going 1.8 seconds faster to reduce the margin to an eye-watering 0.1 second after the first two tests.

Set for a battle royale over the longer stages that followed, it was Pryce that was in command, going fastest on both the Halfway and Crychan stages to head into the mid-point service half back in Builth with a 12.7 second cushion over Cronin.

After a challenging six months, Jason Pritchard would return to the gravel in a four-wheel-drive car. An impressive performance from the Builth Wells driver saw him pick up the pace throughout the day and battle with James Williams in the Hyundai i20 for the final podium spot.

Williams and co-driver Dai Roberts were forced out with suspension issues leaving Pritchard to sit comfortably in third. A sensational stage win on the final long Crychan test sealed his first podium of the season.

Tour of Epynt winner Ruairi Bell and Max Freeman were sitting second to Pryce after the opener despite battling a gearbox issue in their Skoda Fabia. Sadly, that issue would ultimately put them out of the rally on the third stage.

All eyes were on the Junior BRC fight in Wales and fastest out of the blocks was Junior BRC newcomer and Australian driver, Max McRae, McRae son of 1995 BRC champion Alister and nephew of the late Colin McRae is clearly a chip off the old block, leading the charge after the opening stage in his Ford Fiesta Rally4. McRae was delighted with his performance on his Junior BRC and British gravel debut finishing third. Tom Llewellin son of double British Champion Dai secured an excellent 4th position overall in a new Fiesta R5+.

The National Rally Champion battle would see Alan Carmichael and Arthur Kierans take their Hyundai i20 to a back-to-back win after taking the Jim Clark Rally spoils.

Michael O’Brien and Claire Williams were their nearest challenger in the Focus WRC before succumbing to mechanical issues after the sixth test whilst Craig Jones and Ian Taylor debuted their Ford Fiesta 4x4 on gravel in fine style. The Brecon Motor Club pairing settled into gravel driving well and despite a last stage drama secured second spot.

Dai Block Jones and Glyn Price from Pentrefelin were again entertainers in the striking yellow BMW. Despite suffering in hanging dust between the trees the local pairing secure 5th in class and 58th overall

Following the success of the event – not just in sporting terms, but as an economic boost to Builth Wells. “It’s been a wonderful event,” said Nicky Grist. “The organisation has been excellent. The stages ran on time, the competition was fantastic, we had no dramas whatsoever and even the weather was perfect.

“Bringing the event into the centre of Builth Wells created a lot of buzz around the town and there was a fantastic atmosphere in the service park. It was great to see so many visitors walking around looking at the rally cars and talking to the teams. Many of them were locals, but a lot were people just passing through Builth who decided to stop and look at what was going on.

“Rallying needs to embrace the smaller communities and one of our key aims was to bring trade into Builth Wells. We certainly did that, and we created quite a carnival atmosphere too. I’m delighted by the way everything went.”