Osian Pryce Won the British Rally Championship

Global Motorsport News
Author: Mustafa Odabaşı
Creation: 26 October 2026

In the final stage of the Cambrian Rally, 1.2 seconds brought Osian Pryce the crown a season deserved.

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A season that closed in Llandudno left behind a duel that didn't fit into its ending. Osian Pryce and his co-driver James Morgan faced off against Max McRae in the final stage of the Cambrian Rally on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and won the British Rally Championship by a margin of 1.2 seconds. So at exactly what moment was this championship secured, and what did Pryce do right throughout the season to slip out from under a three-way fight?

This is a story that deserves to be written on the edge of confusion: Elfyn Evans' world championship claimed in Sardinia in early October in the World Rally Championship coincided with the same week as this result on the British scene, but it was a completely different story. In the three-way title duel of the Cambrian Rally, the names of Pryce, McRae and Meirion Evans could easily blur together; the result, however, was clear: Britain's second champion became Pryce, the 33-year-old born in Machynlleth.

Highlights

Osian Pryce and James Morgan won the championship at the Cambrian Rally by a margin of 1.2 seconds.
In the overall standings, Pryce was first, McRae +0.6 sec, and Meirion Evans +6.3 sec.
This is Pryce's second British Rally Championship title since 2022.
In the season finale, points were multiplied by 1.5; the lowest round was dropped.
McRae is the nephew of former world champion Colin McRae and was 21 years old.

A Duel Fought to the Final Stage at the Cambrian Rally

Cambrian Rally'de şampiyonluk 0,6 saniyelik farkla son etaba taşındı; Pryce, McRae'yi geçerek ünvanı 1,2 saniyeyle kazandı.

The Cambrian Rally was run in Llandudno, in North Wales, Pryce's home region, and it was not just the single rally closing the season, but the decisive final page of the championship. The top three positions of the overall standings were packed tightly enough to measure the strength: Pryce first, McRae only 0.6 seconds behind, and Meirion Evans third by a margin of 6.3 seconds. In a rally where the top three were watched finishing this closely, the championship being decided on the final stage was one of the most dramatic finales this championship has seen in years.

On the final stage, Pryce and McRae waged a speed battle that never let up. Pryce won the stage, securing both the rally and the championship at once; it should be noted that the McRae/Fair pair managed to win the stage remaining in the finale, but could not close the margin enough for the championship. A championship measured, quite literally, in seconds: 1.2 seconds determined the entirety of a four-year campaign and a season in a championship history spanning more than three decades.

The Math That Secured the Championship: What Did the Table Show Heading into the Finale?

On the day the season finale loomed, the points table showed that all three drivers had a genuine chance. Max McRae led having used his joker points, with 103 points; Meirion Evans was second with 96 points, and Pryce third with 83 points. On the surface, Pryce's job seemed the hardest, but the championship's points system truly put this trio at the same table.

The lowest round is dropped: Five of the seven rounds count, the worst result is discarded.
Joker bonus: McRae and Evans had already used their jokers; Pryce had yet to use his.
Final round multiplier: Points earned in the season's final round are multiplied by 1.5.

This setup opened two doors for Pryce. First, the luxury of being able to count all of his points: while his rivals had to drop their worst results - Meirion Evans had to drop 15 and McRae 12 points - there was no round to drop in Pryce's book. Second, he had saved his joker for the final. In other words, the North Welsh driver still held a scoring move that would grow with the multiplier. This was the very moment when carrying even a bad weekend through the season without dropping it was mathematically crowned.

Who Was Max McRae and Why Was This Name So Significant?

In the rally world, the surname McRae carries a story of its own. 21-year-old Max McRae is the son of 1995 British Rally Champion Alister McRae and the nephew of former world champion Colin McRae. The young driver, who had led for much of the season, was racing for his first championship, and in this final he arrived at with his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, he nailed everything that could be nailed within the limits of inexperience: he won the Cambrian round, but missed the championship by a margin of less than twice a second.

At the opposite end from McRae, Meirion Evans had also come carrying his own story. Evans, a 31-year-old from Llanwrda, was aiming for his first British title; had he won, he would have followed in the footsteps of Elfyn Evans, who won this championship in 2016. There is no family relation between these two Evanses, whose name similarity confused many, but there is an honest indicator of the depth of Welsh rallying: from the same region, in the same era, came a world champion and a British champion.

Pryce's 2026 Season: Undefeated on Asphalt, Dominant on Gravel - A Campaign

This championship was not a surprise that arrived on the final day; it was the result of a structure that had been built since the very first weekend of the season. Pryce returned to the MEM Rally Team, with whom he won his 2022 championship, and to the Michelin-shod Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 at the season opener, the Severn Valley Stages - April 11, 2026. Passing his first test of the return with flying colors, he won five of seven stages and took victory with a 19-second margin; it was his first British Championship win since Rally Yorkshire in 2022.

In mid-season, another victory was added at Grampian with a performance that never let go of control, by a 26.1-second margin. Pryce's invincibility on gravel rallies this season even gave rise to a nickname the camp bestowed on him: the final boss of gravel. Winning two of the four gravel rallies created a foundation that could rival what McRae and Evans amassed on their asphalt events.

The turning point of the campaign, of course, was not where it broke; on the contrary, the season's only major setback came at Rally Ceredigion. Pryce and Morgan, who retired from the race with an engine failure on the fifth round, faced the risk of dropping out of the championship race after this bitter end on home soil. Jon Armstrong won that round, signing his first British victory; but the most important asset in Pryce's championship account was a driving discipline of consistently finishing and collecting points throughout the season. Having no bad round to be dropped was precisely the reward of that discipline.

Career Perspective: How the Second Title Differs from the First

Pryce's first British title dates back to 2022, to the victory at the Trackrod Rally. But the four years that have passed since then show the real depth of his career. His biography includes three British runner-up finishes - with the Citroën DS3 R3 in 2013 and 2014, and with the Polo GTI R5 in 2021; his first championship win dates back to the 2013 Ulster Rally, and his first year in the championship to 2012. So this title is the pinnacle of a thirteen-year championship journey.

After 2022, Pryce expanded beyond the British scene: In 2023 he became Tour European Rally champion, in 2025 he won Category 4 of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship, and this year he added the Category 3 European Historic title with a class victory at Sanremo. This history requires the 2026 British victory to be read not as a coincidence, but as a homecoming of a driver who has worked across a broad spectrum. Before the final, Pryce's expectation that it would be nice for the championship to come to Wales - as an extension of the emotional intensity they shared while watching Elfyn Evans' world championship - came true two days later. A driver who experienced British runner-up finishes twice during the season, finished second three times, and became champion once, being crowned for the second time, rewrote that old local story of rallying: a good rally weekend can sometimes speak louder than an entire season.

What Does This Championship Tell the British Rally Scene?

The British Rally Championship is an institution that has been running since 1958, and the final of the 2026 season reminded us why this institution still stands. On one side, a 21-year-old contender carrying one of rallying's legendary surnames; on the other, a 33-year-old master who passes his rivals in seconds with his experience and local knowledge; and as a third party, a Welshman newly stepping onto the world stage. A season in which three different career stages were measured by seconds in a single final stage is the most honest unit of measurement for championships.

Pryce's victory is also rare evidence that the points system works: saving your joker in the right place, not wiping a bad weekend off the books, and collecting enough points under the final multiplier. Those who have eaten the dust of this business know one truth; in rallying, the championship usually goes not to the fastest, but to the one who carries it with the fewest mistakes. On the final stage of the Cambrian, Pryce was both the fastest and the most consistent - there could be no better summary of a season in which the championship was won by 1.2 seconds.