Osian Pryce will not compete on the Rally Isle of Man (September 14-16), the final round of this year’s British Rally Championship.

The 24-year-old from Machynlleth has decided to save the budget he would have spent crossing the Irish Sea to the classic Manx roads and put it towards his programme for next season.

Pryce is third in the championships with 66 points, 40 behind Sweden’s Fredrik Ahlin and just eight adrift of Keith Cronin.

“This was not an easy decision to take,” admitted Pryce. “Everybody knows about the calibre of the stages on the Isle of Man and everybody knows just how good that rally is – but we have to be realistic.

“There’s an outside chance we could have taken the British Rally Championship title, mathematically we’re still in with a shot.

“I’m sure there will be people who say I should always go when the title race is still alive, no matter how much of a long shot it is.

“But I’ve achieved a huge amount from the BRC this year. Yes, of course it would have been nice to win the title, but that would have been the icing on the cake.

“We’ve still had the cake!

“Don’t forget, at the start of this year, we were the newbies in these four-wheel drive cars at the highest level of the sport in Britain.

“We had never even started a BRC round in an R5 car before, so to come and fight right at the front of the championship from the very start and then lead the title race, is a big win for me.

“If things had gone slightly more in our favour, I’m sure we would have been getting ready for a title decider in Douglas and I’m sure we would have won some rallies.

“It hasn’t fallen that way, so we’ll take the experience we’ve gained from a brilliant year in a great championship and use it as a springboard for next season.”

Pryce’s British Rally Championship season in numbers:
5 rallies
3 podiums
2 runners-up finishes
2 mechanical failures
50 stages completed by Osian
Running in the top three after 39 of 50 stages
In the top three times on 32 of 50 stages
Fastest on 11 of 50 stages