The phone rang & I saw who it was… “Go on then, what’s my budget to go to Wales?” That made Shami from Omologato Watches laugh, he hadn’t even had chance to speak!! So that was it, I was heading home to pack the camera kit into the car and drive to Llandudno, North Wales. It felt great to be in at the start of a sponsorship partnership between Omologato and Osian Pryce on The British Rally Championship.
The Cambrian Rally – Round 1
The Cambrian Rally is based in Llandudno and held on some of the forest tracks of North Wales. Being a last minute call-up and a 5 hour drive from home for me, there was no time to book a hotel. So I set off straight for Gwyndir Forest, what would be Stage 2 the next morning. After a couple of hours sleep in the car, I made my way up into the forest to find a good spot. In rally photography you always want to get a shot on Stage 1 safely in the bag…just incase! Unfortunately it was non-spectator & so it had to be Stage 2 this time. Knowing rallying as I do, it was highly likely the side graphics would already be covered in mud! To be sure I could get that important shot for Omologato, I went high up a bank to get the bonnet logo.
The side of the car wasn’t too bad, so that was a great bonus. Now if the worst happened & Osian put the car off the road later in the rally… we had the vital photos for Shami! CLICK HERE for short YouTube video of how these photos happened live on the Special Stage 2.
Osian had no intention of putting the car off, in fact other than a spin, he was flying! He was up to 2nd Overall by the time I caught up with him at the Service Halt.
20 minute Service completed, 4 new tyres on, Osian set off for the final 3 stages of the rally. He was in a solid 2nd place but the gap to 1st was possibly a bit too much to catch. A good steady pace was decided upon to keep the chasing drivers behind him but without taking any risks. The plan worked well as a few hours later I was in position to see him come over the Finish Ramp on Llandudno sea front. Me & the Nikon even got to taste a little of the 2nd place Champagne during the celebration spraying!!!
West Cork Rally – Round 2
After such a great start, it was really good when I heard the sponsorship between Omologato and Osian Pryce would be continuing for Round 2. I am unable to cover the next rally in West Cork, so I was really pleased when I got to help create the graphics for the car. A change of car from the Hyundai i20 R5 to a VW Polo Gti R5 meant a change of graphics too. A HiRes shot of the latest Can-Am model was needed… and a really quick turnaround too!!
From collecting the Can-Am watch, shoot, edit, images uploaded back to Omologato Watches, send on to the graphic guys, on to Rally Car… 2 days!! Good Luck to Osian & Noel on the West Cork.
UPDATE – Sadly as with so many things in 2020, Covid 19 got in the way & the Championship was cancelled after Round 1. At the time of this writing this update the dates for the 2021 Championship have been announced. Hopefully I’ll have Osian back in my Nikon crosshairs on the rally stages again real soon…
