That, right there, is why rallying is quite simply the most relentless motorsport on the planet. As Autosport reports, Osian Pryce clinched the 2026 British Rally Championship title after a wild, winner-takes-all finale at the Cambrian Rally season finale, edging out Max McRae by a razor-thin 1.2s margin. Conditions for the Welsh gravel rally were punishing, with torrential rain turning the stages into an absolute minefield for a three-way title fight involving team-mates Pryce and Meirion Evans alongside McRae.
Things started swinging immediately. Max McRae and co-driver Cameron Fair laid down the early hammer in their Skoda Fabia Rally2, sweeping the opening two stages to grab a 1.8s advantage. Pryce, meanwhile, was fighting a pop off valve issue tucked inside the engine bay of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. But rally machines bite back fast in the wet. A costly spin after hitting standing water in stage three, compounded by an incorrect tyre choice, dropped McRae down to third place and 4.9s adrift of Pryce.
I was off the road in there [the last stage] more than I was on the road. That was the hardest stage I’ve ever driven. That is gutting, but we fought so hard.
The drama only escalated through the morning loop. The championship picture flipped violently in stage five when Meirion Evans got caught out under braking, sliding off the road and out of the rally entirely. That left Pryce holding a 14.9s cushion over McRae as the event headed into the afternoon tests. But McRae wasn't about to roll over, stringing together an inspired run to sweep all four remaining stages. He clawed back 5.7s in the penultimate Hiraethog test, slicing the gap down to just 6.0s before the final stage of the year.
McRae threw everything at the machine in one last desperate charge, but came up just 1.2s short of the crown. The finish handed Pryce his second British title, adding to his 2022 triumph, and marked the very first British title for Pryce’s co-driver James Morgan. Behind the titanic fight at the front, Charlie Tuthill delivered a stunning British Rally Championship debut, piloting a Ford Fiesta Rally3 alongside Sion Williams to complete the overall podium in style.
Reflecting on a brutal and beautiful conclusion to the season, Pryce admitted the tension was nearly too much. “I never thought I’d be in the position to win this title again”, Pryce said. “We’ve had our ups and downs since the last one, but I’ve kept persevering, and it just goes to show that everyone who has helped me, as long as I get the support, I can put it together on the day. A massive thanks to everybody; I can’t name everybody, obviously, as there are just so many people.”
“Credit to Max [McRae] & Cammy [Fair], Meirion [Evans] and Dale [Furniss] as well; it’s been a tough season”, Pryce added. “It’s been quite exciting bringing it down to the last stage of the last rally, but I’d have rather it been a bit of a bigger gap! A big thanks to James [Morgan] as well; I wouldn’t have been able to do this without him because his knowledge has been paramount with this car, but we’ve really settled into it.”
For McRae, the final margin was a bitter pill to swallow after such a ferocious recovery drive. “I don’t know what to say”, McRae said. “I was off the road in there [the last stage] more than I was on the road. That was the hardest stage I’ve ever driven. That is gutting, but we fought so hard.”
