REPORT / CAMBRIAN RALLY 2026

02/11/2026 Off By admin

WORDS BY ANDREW SCOTT | PHOTOGRAPY ANDREW SCOTT, JAMIE MOONE & NIGEL PRATT

The record may show that Osian Pryce and James Morgan won the British Rally Championship by ten points but in reality, it was so much closer.

As 3 of the 4 top Gravel and mixed surface Rally Championships descended on a cold and windy Llandudno carpark last Friday afternoon, talk of the town was very much on the final round of the British Rally Championship.

A difficult weekend for Osian Pryce, compounded by a Gearbox induced retirement, and Victories for chief rivals Max McRae / Cameron Fair and Meirion Evans/Dale Furniss on the double-header JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, set up a “winner-takes-all showdown” on the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian Rally.

Now settled in its post covid October slot, “The Cambrian” has become the established BRC championship finale. The MEM Squad taking the title on the North Wales round on both the previous two editions. 2024 for Chris Ingram and 2025 for William Creighton.

Could they make it three in a row? MEM crews Osian Pryce/ James Morgan and Meirion Evans /Dale Furniss in their Castrol Toyota GR Yaris Rally2s facing off against championship leaders Max McRae/ Cameron Fair in their Dom Buckley prepared Skoda Fabia Rally2 EVO. Could Max take the honours and add a fourth McRae name to the trophy?

However, the main title wasn’t the only one up for grabs, with the Juniors title also still wide open. Luke Constantine / Ifan Devine facing off against Ben McFall / Mark McGeehan and Catrin Price or Harry Walshaw who could seal the national Co-Drivers title.

Despite the strong BRC focus, the Cambrian also featured the penultimate round of both the Protyre BTRDA and Pirelli Welsh Rally Championships. Late entry from a much-missed James Williams taking on Ian Bainbridge’s Toyota Yaris Rally2 and marking his first start since the ill-fated Jim Clark, all our thoughts still with James, and Dai’s family on this important day. James under instructions to take it easy from Partner Adelle.

In BTRDA, recently crowned 2026 champs Elliot Payne/ Patrick Walsh’s late withdrawal (due to work commitments) left the door open for Daníel Sigurðarson/ Ásta Sigurðardóttir or Matthew Hirst/ Declan Dear, with Hirst teed up to seal his sixth Welsh championship drivers title at the Cambrian.

With Crews, officials, and spectators battling Storm Austen, it’s safe to say the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian 2026 was one of the tougher UK rallies of recent years. Strong Winds and Driving rain make for slippery and unpredictable road conditions.

MORNING LOOP

Despite the forecast, the day started bright and dry as the crews left Llandudno for a twenty-seven mile loop comprising of four stages. Beginning with two stages in Gwydir Forest park to the west of Llanrwst where Max McCrae took a 1.3 second advantage over Osian Pryce on the opening stage of the day in Crafnant, a dejected looking Pryce ruing a Misfire at stage end.

“Yeah we have a problem, there is no gears, and when you pull a gear, it cuts the engine too much”
Osian Pryce

Max and Cammy further extended their lead to 1.8 seconds after the single run through SS2 Gwydir, with Meirion and Dale a further 3.7 seconds down in third.

The crews then moved to the lakeside Brenig test, a staple of the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian Rally, this year ran in reverse to its traditional direction.

It was here we saw possibly the deciding moment of the event, as a mid-stage spin from McRae and Fair cost them over ten seconds, dropping them from first to third.

It’s important to state that a championship is decided over a season and not decided on one moment in one stage, despite how easy it might be to distil the result down to a single moment. With only five seconds separating the top three, the championship title, at this point, was still wide open.

Two further tests in the Clocaenog Forest complex completed the loop and despite the stage one misfire, a storming run through SS5 Hiraethog catapulted Pryce / Morgan into a fifteen second lead over the McCrae/ Fair duo as the crews headed to service in Ruthin.

Much like stage three, five was to bite for one of our championship protagonists; Evans / Furniss were out of the title fight, an otherwise harmless spin off the road and into a ditch costing them any chance of the championship title.

In the Juniors, the morning went to Constantine/ Devine by all but 0.3 seconds from McFall / McGeehan, after topsy turvy morning that saw the Irish pair claw back a nine second deficit after the first three stages.

Meanwhile in the interclub event, James Wilson and Paul Mulholland arrived at service with a ten second lead over the quickly improving Fiesta Proto of Russ Thompson and Stephen Link, who were now beginning to make their Mitsubishi powered fiesta start to sing.

Welsh Championship title contenders, Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear were leading the way in their R5 spec Skoda Fabia, up until Stage 4 that was, were, like a number of others, were handed a 30 second penalty by the stewards for a virtual chicane infringement in the Clocaenog test, this would demote them to third in the interclub as they reach the midpoint.

AFTERNOON LOOP

Onto the afternoon, a further four stages to complete the event, two repeat runs of Brenig and Clocaenog followed by a variation on both the morning Hiraethog and Crafnant stages. With Max McRae promising “trees or trophy, there is not really another way” it was sure to be a compelling afternoon in the wind and rain of the impending Storm Austen. A difficult one for Pryce/ Morgan to judge. Sitting on a commanding lead, should they consolidate or push on?

Max was first out the blocks though and with nearly three seconds taken back through the four miles of Brenig, the fight was on. Pryce held McRae to a 0.6s advantage through the repeated Clocaenog test, the gap now stood at twelve seconds with just two stages to go. In true uncle Colin style, it would have to be “if in doubt flat out”,or in Max’s words, “trees or trophy”.

Another six seconds off in SS8 Hiraethog as McRae/ Fair reversed their morning time loss to half the gap with just one final stage to go!

A twenty-minute delay only added to the tension. Under rainfall of almost biblical proportions, BRC live hosts Matt Cotton and Bex Hinton stood at a tense stop line awaiting the live timing on this winner-takes-all final stage shoot out. Glancing at a sodden phone, it was confirmed, Pryce and Morgan had taken the title by all of 1.2 seconds.

First to the Mic was a visibly emotional Max, having given it everything on his afternoon charge

“I was off the road more than I was on the road, that’s probably the hardest stage I’ve ever done.”
Max McRae

Osian, dedicating the win to his grandfather, and visibly more relaxed now the deed was done and dusted

“All credit to Max and Cammy, and Meirion and Dale as well. You know, it’s been a tough season, but yeah it’s been quite exciting to bring it down to the last stage…. I’d rather it had been a bigger gap, but at the end of the day you only need to with by 1/10^th… all credit to the guys. Big thanks to James as well: I wouldn’t have been able to do this without him, because his knowledge has been paramount with this car, and getting me settled into it”

“I never thought I’d be in a position to win again really, I’ve had ups and downs since the last one, but you know, I’ve just kept persevering and it just goes to show that as long as I get the support I can pull it together on the day”
Osian Pryce

Meanwhile, the Juniors were to deliver drama to a similar extent. A McRae-style afternoon charge from Ben McFalls would turn a 0.3s deficit into a fifteen second lead over Luke Constantine in the first three stages off the afternoon loop, with the Junior title very much in his hands going into Crafnant for the last time. However, in dramatic circumstances a misted windscreen to the windscreen of McFalls Ford Fiesta resultant brief stop.

“The Windscreen just went white, and we couldn’t see! We were stopped in the middle of the stage”
Ben McFall

This gave the charging Constantine the opportunity to repeat his Grampian last-stage-antics, this time to take the title.

“Honestly never give up, because I can’t…I can’t believe it. Everyone was messaging me, saying: Don’t give up. Keep Going, and we didn’t! I’m so proud of myself for not giving up”
Luke Constantine

The National Co-driver title going to Walshaw by default as Arwel Parry / Catrine Price were to Roll their Subaru Impreza on SS8 Hiraethog.

It was a similar afternoon turn around in interclub, with perennial Welsh champions Hirst / Deer making their experience count, in taking 32 and a half seconds out of James Wilson & Paul Mulholland on the first 2 stages of the second loop and they eventually took both the Protyre BTRDA Gold Star and Pirelli Welsh Championship wins in convincing fashion – by over Thirty-two and fifty-two seconds respectively, putting the seal on a sixth Welsh championship drivers title for Hirst to boot. Co-Driver Dear, will however, have to take the Co-Drivers title fight to the final round at the Wyedean.

The rain stopped and wind died down just in time for the celebrations on Llandudno Prom, a hardy and dedicated crowd having braving some horrendous conditions to see the celebrations which brought the 2026 British Rally Championship season to a close. A season that may not have been deep on entries but was yet again deep on quality, and a third consecutive title for Melvin Evans Motorsport Castrol Toyota Yaris GR Rally2.

Mez and Max having pushed Osh all the way. To have the McRae name back at the forefront of British rallying was a big thing this year and with a British World Champion, a WRC round in 2027 and Rallying on the BBC for the first time since 2002; the BRC, Motorsport UK and the wider Rallying community must find a way to capitalise on this. What will next season bring? Only time will tell!