C2R2 Cup 2007 championship leader Jason Pritchard is certainly enjoying his championship campaign in what is his inaugural full season in rallying and his first taste of International rallying in Britain’s premier rally series, the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.

The eighteen year old Builth Wells driver benefited from others mistakes on the opening round the Pirelli International Rally, despite having some problems of his own. Jason and his Brecon co-driver Martin Jones piloted their Quick Motorsport prepared FCS Lasermail/North Road Garage Citroen C2 into 10th overall and take the C2R2 Cup win.

The 2007 MSA British Rally Academy member then contested round two, the Jim Clark Rally. The Welsh pair emerged from the rally having extended their lead in the C2R2 Cup 2007 by claiming the runners up spot.

In order to learn more about the sport, Jason has also contested some events outside of the championship and visited the Isle of Man earlier this year contesting the RBSi Manx Rally. He has also made the journey to Ireland to contest the Donegal Rally. Jason was pushing for the class lead but suffered mechanical problems which dropped him back to fourth.

Jason and Martin now return to the Isle of Man and the Isle of Man International Rally, which takes place 19th – 21st July and Jason feels the experience gained so far this season is helping his confidence.

“After doing the Manx in May as a test, we started using our own pacenote system and we managed to get a good feeling for the roads on the Isle of Man. I also gained valuable experience on the Donegal Rally, with Gareth Roberts sitting with me for the first time. We were a little disappointed to finish fourth as our pace was very encouraging throughout the weekend, but the competitive mileage is far more important to us on these test events than the actual results.”

Jason is also keen to resume his championship campaign. “I am now really looking forward to the challenge of the Isle of Man International Rally. It is the first time in the championship, where I have had some experience of the roads. After each rally in the car I am gaining more confidence in the car and in my driving ability and having some familiarity of the roads will also help, but I know there is still a lot more to come from both myself and the car.”

Builth Wells based Jason Pritchard returns to action on this weekend’s Jim Clark International Rally after a frustrating period of forced inactivity caused by a non rallying related injury sidelined the young Citroen pilot.

British Rally Elite member, Jason, who is co-driven by Welshpool resident George Gwynn in the North Road Garage supported Citroen C2R2, had been hoping to challenge for both the British and the Irish C2R2 cup one make series. But after a low speed road accident left the motor mechanic with a broken foot 6 weeks ago young Jason has been forced into the unnatural role of a frustrated spectator.

And with the opening round of the British C2R2 cup having already taken place just over a month ago, Jason and George are aware that they need to get their British Championship aspirations back on course this weekend.

“We need a strong result on the Jim Clark rally. The championship allows dropped scores, so it’s not over. There are only 7 point scoring opportunities and so we really need a good run here this weekend. Mentally I’m fine, but obviously the last few months have been really frustrating. I’ve been training hard recently and although it was my accelerator foot that was broken I don’t see it hindering our pace in any way.”

Jason, who turns 20 soon after the Jim Clark International, and 25 year old George are one of the youngest crews competing in the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, but the pairing have a wealth of experience of this rally between them. Jason finished on the class podium here last year and with prior experience of the stages, and a good base set up for the little Citroen the pair aim to be on the pace from the word go.

C2R2 Cup 2007 championship leader Jason Pritchard is certainly enjoying his championship campaign in what is his inaugural full season in rallying and his first taste of International rallying in Britain’s premier rally series, the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.

The eighteen year old Builth Wells driver benefited from others mistakes on the opening round the Pirelli International Rally, despite having some problems of his own. Jason and his Brecon co-driver Martin Jones piloted their Quick Motorsport prepared FCS Lasermail/North Road Garage Citroen C2 into 10th overall and take the C2R2 Cup win.

The 2007 MSA British Rally Academy member then contested round two, the Jim Clark Rally. The Welsh pair emerged from the rally having extended their lead in the C2R2 Cup 2007 by claiming the runners up spot.

In order to learn more about the sport, Jason has also contested some events outside of the championship and visited the Isle of Man earlier this year contesting the RBSi Manx Rally. He has also made the journey to Ireland to contest the Donegal Rally. Jason was pushing for the class lead but suffered mechanical problems which dropped him back to fourth.

Jason and Martin now return to the Isle of Man and the Isle of Man International Rally, which takes place 19th – 21st July and Jason feels the experience gained so far this season is helping his confidence.

“After doing the Manx in May as a test, we started using our own pacenote system and we managed to get a good feeling for the roads on the Isle of Man. I also gained valuable experience on the Donegal Rally, with Gareth Roberts sitting with me for the first time. We were a little disappointed to finish fourth as our pace was very encouraging throughout the weekend, but the competitive mileage is far more important to us on these test events than the actual results.”

Jason is also keen to resume his championship campaign. “I am now really looking forward to the challenge of the Isle of Man International Rally. It is the first time in the championship, where I have had some experience of the roads. After each rally in the car I am gaining more confidence in the car and in my driving ability and having some familiarity of the roads will also help, but I know there is still a lot more to come from both myself and the car.”

Jason Pritchard will contest the second round of the C2R2 Cup 2007 as championship leader, having taken class victory on the season opener of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.

The eighteen year old Builth Wells driver now heads to the Jim Clark Rally for the second round and a change of surface, with the Scottish Borders event run on closed public roads.

The 2007 MSA British Rally Academy member and his Brecon co-driver Martin Jones, will be looking for a better start to the rally in their Quick Motorsport prepared Citroen C2 compared to their dramatic first round, despite achieving 10th overall in the FCS Lasermail/North Road Garage car and taking the class win.

“We had a problematic rally, with tyre problems on the Friday evening making the car virtually impossible to drive and really knocked any confidence I had in the car for the rest of the rally.”

The Welsh pair have already used the car on asphalt for the first time, having contested the RBSi Manx Rally on the Isle of Man. Using the rally as a valuable test, the pair feel more confident for the Jim Clark Rally, but are under no illusions of the task ahead.

“We learned so much on the Isle of Man, with asphalt set up and I was able to use the event to practice making my own pace notes, which we felt were good and should certainly help us more on the Jim Clark. Our main aim on the rally will be to make a cautious start on the Friday and then take it from there and really go for a finish.”

The rally starts from its Kelso base on Friday 25th and completes 161 miles of competition before the finish on Sunday 27th May.

Jason Pritchard will contest the second round of the C2R2 Cup 2007 as championship leader, having taken class victory on the season opener of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.

The eighteen year old Builth Wells driver now heads to the Jim Clark Rally for the second round and a change of surface, with the Scottish Borders event run on closed public roads.

The 2007 MSA British Rally Academy member and his Brecon co-driver Martin Jones, will be looking for a better start to the rally in their Quick Motorsport prepared Citroen C2 compared to their dramatic first round, despite achieving 10th overall in the FCS Lasermail/North Road Garage car and taking the class win.

“We had a problematic rally, with tyre problems on the Friday evening making the car virtually impossible to drive and really knocked any confidence I had in the car for the rest of the rally.”

The Welsh pair have already used the car on asphalt for the first time, having contested the RBSi Manx Rally on the Isle of Man. Using the rally as a valuable test, the pair feel more confident for the Jim Clark Rally, but are under no illusions of the task ahead.

“We learned so much on the Isle of Man, with asphalt set up and I was able to use the event to practice making my own pace notes, which we felt were good and should certainly help us more on the Jim Clark. Our main aim on the rally will be to make a cautious start on the Friday and then take it from there and really go for a finish.”

The rally starts from its Kelso base on Friday 25th and completes 161 miles of competition before the finish on Sunday 27th May.

Jason Pritchard certainly stepped up to the mark on the opening round of the C2R2 Cup 2007, taking his first win on his maiden International rally debut on the Carlisle based Pirelli International Rally.

The event saw the start of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship (BRC) with many seasoned BRC campaigners and several former British Rally Champions, all chasing glory on the opening round and among them was the 2007 MSA British Rally Academy member Pritchard, embarking on his first season with a full championship campaign to contest ahead of him.

The Builth Wells driver and his Brecon co-driver Martin Jones, started cautiously on the opening Friday evening stages in their Quick Motorsport prepared Citroen C2. Despite most of the UK baking in the unusual April sunshine, rain had dampened the opening loose surface tests that lay ahead for the all Welsh pairing and the threat of hanging dust would not cause any problems on the night stages. Another problem would slow the pair’s progress and certainly cause some concern.

“We started the Friday night stages and found the car was not behaving as expected and the handling felt extremely dangerous with the car wandering all over the road. We thought we had collected punctures on the car, which was not the case and traced the problem to a faulty tyre gauge, which we carry in the car. It was giving us a false reading for the pressures in the tyres and really cost us time over the four stages.”

The Saturday morning stages proved better with the pair starting to feel more confident with the car as the day progressed. Jason showing maturity and taking no risks to eventually bring the FCS Lasermail/North Road Garage car home in 10th place overall and take maximum points in the C2R2 series.

“We had a minor gear selection problem during the day, but apart from that the car ran really well. It has been a great rally to start the year off for us. We have enjoyed it and has got better throughout the day with our times improving as the day went on, just wish we started as the rally ended. We have learnt a lot more about the car.”

Jason and Martin will now turn their attention to asphalt rallying and will contest the RBS International Rally on the Isle of Man on 10th/11th May as part of their preparation for the next round of the championship, the Jim Clark Rally on 26th/27th May.

The first round of the C2R2 Cup 2007 will commence this weekend with the Pirelli International Rally. Among the eager competitors keen to make their mark on this inaugural series, will be Mid Wales driver Jason Pritchard.

The C2R2 Cup will be Jason’s first full championship campaign and the Builth Wells driver is relishing the year ahead and although extremely enthusiastic is well aware of what lies ahead as the C2R2 Cup is part of Britain’s premier rally series, the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship (BRC).

“We have put together a two year plan to contest the championship, with our main aims to gain as much experience of the events and learn more about the Citroen C2 rally car. As the year progresses I am sure we will see an increase in pace.”

Jason followed in his fathers footsteps when he started rallying back in December 2005. During 2006 Jason did several rallies as part of his preparation for a full season this year, getting used to the gravel and asphalt type surfaces that rallying encounters. His efforts in 2006 did not go unrecognised, having been selected to join 2007 MSA British Rally Academy. The aim of the Academy is to train drivers and co-drivers to aid their transition from British Rallying into the World Rally Championship.

Jason will be partnered by the vastly experienced Brecon co-driver Martin Jones. Martin has been a long term family friend having been co-driving for Jason’s father Eian, for many years and was the logical choice to help Jason embark on his first full championship campaign.

Both driver and co-driver attended the recent BRC launch, which was held in the centre of Birmingham and Jason certainly found the day worthwhile.

“It was a good experience to attend the launch and to meet lots of new people and put some faces to names. The launch also provided our Birmingham based Corporate Partners FCS Lasermail the opportunity to get first hand experience the BRC on their doorstep.”

Jason will also spend a day testing his Quick Motorsport prepared C2 in the week leading up to the first round.

“I have done some minor tests in the car, but this will be our first proper test and will be another good experience for me to get as much time in the car as possible.”

The Pirelli International Rally will start from Carlisle City centre on the evening of Friday 20th April with a compact two day format of fourteen special timed stages on loose gravel roads in North Cumbria & Kielder forest.

Along with FCS Lasermail, Jason and Martin will also be supported in their 2007 campaign by North Road Garage, Builth Wells and in addition to the C2R2 Cup the pair will contest several events to help develop Jason’s driving technique. The events most likely will be the RBSI Manx (May), Severn Valley (June), Donegal (June), Quinton (July) and Cork 20 (September).

Wales Rally GB

11th – 14th November 2010

Builth Wells based Jason Pritchard enjoyed a highly successful Wales Rally GB when the 22 year old rally driver brought his North Road Garage backed Subaru Impreza home inside the top twenty overall and scored fourth place points on his debut in the Production car World Rally Championship!

Jason, who finished third overall in the 2010 MSA British Rally Championship, was contesting his home round of the World Rally Championship in a four wheel drive car for the first time. A time consuming spin and stall on the very first forest stage on the rally was a reminder that this would be a very tricky event. As the former double British two wheel drive champion adjusted to the WRC specification Scorpion tyres so his confidence grew and Jason, along with co-driver Robbie Durant, ended the opening day sixth in class, despite some problems with the power steering.

Day two was the longest of the rally but at the end of the nine high speed and technical stages the young pairing had overcome a small problem with a front driveshaft and a damper to climb the leaderboard to lie fifth in class with just four more tests to tackle on Sunday. Such was Jason’s confidence in the car that, despite focusing on a finish and treating the stages with caution, the young pairing returned to Cardiff for the ceremonial finish on Sunday afternoon a very impressive twentieth overall and fourth in class – collecting 12 championship points on his debut in the series as an added bonus!

“This weekend has exceeded my wildest expectations. We decided to tackle my home rally for experience as we are undecided on our plans for next season. I was targeting a top ten in Group N result and so to trade times with the top drivers in the category is incredible! I have so many people to thank; Prodrive, Geoff Jones, North Road Garage and my family – a season like this year would be impossible without such support! “

Jason and Robbie cap off a very successful debut year in a four wheel drive with a 100% finish record in the Subaru Impreza N2010. The year included two outright wins and a further two podium finishes since the pair first drove the car in March. Jason is currently evaluating options for 2011 but any program will be dependant on sourcing additional budget.