Jason Pritchard
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14/05/2015 by admin

PRITCHARD TAKES TOP SPOT AGAIN IN THE ISLE OF MAN

Jason Pritchard was victorious yet again in the Isle of Man as he won the 2015 IMGold Manx National Rally over the weekend of the 8th and 9th May.

Heading to the Isle of Man with fond memories of last year’s victory firmly on his mind, the 26-year-old put in a fantastic performance to win the prestigious event for the second year in a row, this time finishing ahead of his closest rival by one minute.

Back in the Ford Focus WRC, Pritchard along with his co-driver Phil Clarke, overcame a number of challenging conditions over the two days and this victory follows last year’s top place finish. The Welshman also finished an agonising second in the 2013 Rally by a mere 3.4 seconds and only a sprinkling of people have won this event twice and no-one has achieved the feat of winning it three times in a row.

Pritchard is already thinking ahead to 2016 and trying to secure a hat-trick of wins:

“I can’t explain how happy I am to win this fantastic event again, it’s one of the biggest and best rallies out there and to win again is a great feeling. “The amount of work that goes into getting the car ready and the work that happens during the event is unbelievable and my family, team and sponsors show so much faith in me and my performances. “To be able to reward these guys with a top place finish means so much to me. As usual they were amazing from the word go and I can’t thank them enough. I also want to take this moment to thank Phil and how much he supports me during the drive – he’s one of the best co-drivers out there and it’s a privilege to sit next to him in the car. “Obviously I would be lying if I wasn’t thinking about next year and the hat-trick but for now I’m going to enjoy the win and concentrate on what’s ahead of me and future events, although when I’m back next year – I’ll be going for the win!”

The victory was all the more impressive for Pritchard as he hadn’t sat in the car all year and the last time he was behind the wheel in the car was the 2014 event in the Isle of Man:

“I haven’t sat in the car for 12 months, my father was planning to use it on a rally but unfortunately it suffered an engine failure. The car required a full rebuild of the engine and I only collected the car on the 4th May and to be honest I’d forgotten how to even start the car!”

The first leg of the event was incredibly wet and misty, which would usually cause issues for any driver; however Pritchard was troubled by malfunctioning windscreen wipers.

On the third stage they had completely broke and they were unable to fix them, so the remaining four stages were negotiated with no wipers and unfortunately the heavy rain and mist showed no sign of slowing down, so the Welshman was battling the wet conditions with no wipers:

“We lost a bit of time because of the incident but thankfully we managed to keep hold of second place going into the Saturday. The parts we needed had to be shipped over that night and the team did a great job in getting them in working order before we started on the Saturday.”

Overnight rain resulted in damp stages on Saturday morning but thankfully the rain had now stopped. Pritchard took time back from the leader (Paul Bird) during the second stage on the Saturday but on the third stage, a high speed spin meant that Pritchard was too far behind the leader so his main aim was to get to the finish safely:

“Paul Bird is an exceptional driver and I really enjoy our battles out here on the Manx. It was a huge shame to see him retiring but it resulted in us having a one minute lead over the last stages from Damian Cole. “I managed to keep it safe in the remaining stages and it was a wonderful feeling to arrive at the TT grandstand knowing that we had won this great rally again. To see the joy in my team’s face is a huge honour and I can’t thank them enough for another solid performance. “As always, I would like to thank my sponsors: North Road Garage Builth Wells, FCS Laser Mail and Pirelli tyres for their continued support.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

Jason is on Twitter and you can follow him at @JasonNRG
Please visit Jason’s new website at www.jasonpritchard.co.uk
For more information or to arrange to speak directly with Jason, please contact:
Matthew Williams
mpw.sportpr@gmail.com
07789 722 561
@MPWsportPR

SPONSORSHIP DETAILS
Jason is looking for sponsorship from individuals and companies for this event and future events, there is opportunity to feature on the car, Jason’s suit and helmet, or to sponsor his website and to be included in press releases and help out in any team building or away days.

You can speak to Jason directly on 07889 916 123