Pryce's Sunseeker - Korhonen's Championship
The final round of the 2013 British Rally Championship season - Southern Car Club's Rally Sunseeker, began in damp conditions with Friday's heavy overnight rain gradually easing as the crews began to arrive in the Creekmoor service area on the outskirts of Poole.
By the time the Saturday dawn had broken, the rain had stopped but crews were faced with the prospect of a wet and muddy start to the event. Competitors took the first loop of three stages easy, knowing that a minor mistake could escalate into a large problem in the slippery conditions, most struggling to find grip and posting similar times on the muddy stages.
At the conclusion of another hard-fought rally it was Welsh driver Osian Pryce co-driven by Dale Furniss who took the overall win on the Sunseeker, his season hat trick of wins neatly accomplished. Welsh rally driver Tom Cave accompanied by Ieuan Thomas finished second after an event-long battle with Pryce and 2013 BRC Champion elect, Jukka Korhonen with Marko Salminen finished the rally in a safe third position. The ubiquitous Citroen DS3 R3T filled the first 8 places on the rally scoreboard!
The Sunseeker result means that Jukka Korhonen is the 2013 MSA British Rally Championship winner with 100 points with Cave and Pryce tied on 92 points, the later taking second overall in the series by virtue of his tally of 3 overall wins. Korhonen's success in the championship is the first for a Finnish driver for 12 years.
The day was Pryce's however, with a new star emerging onto the national championship scene and the International Rally Driver's Club congratulate the 2013 championship and rally winners as well as the clubs that have produced some well-organised and competitive events. We now await the results of the popular season long IRDC Driver Improvement Scheme and look forward to the end of term awards dinner and presentation held on Saturday 9th November at Manchester's Hallmark Hotel.
Tickets available from:- www.rallybrc.co.uk
20th October, 2013