RALLY ace Osian Pryce may have endured a year to forget in 2015 - but he is relishing his return to action in a Mitsubishi Mirage R5, built and run by Spencer Sport, on this weekend’s BRC season-opening Mid Wales Stages Rally.

Pryce has completed much of the Mitsubishi’s early development mileage in Britain, and tackled the Cambrian Rally at the end of last season - his progress being halted by a minor problem with the fuel tank - as part of that programme.

That autumn outing in north Wales somewhat typified a 2015 full of promise for the rally ace from Aberangell, but with ultimately little to show in return.

He only competed on five events last year - retiring from three events, but finishing on the podium on the other two.He was third on Rally North Wales, beating a couple of World Rally Cars in his two-wheel drive Citroen, and second in the Junior WRC category of Rally Poland. They would have won, had it not been for a misfire on the second day.

He was glad to see the end of last season - but he says that he and co-driver Dave Furniss have been relishing the start of the British Rally Championship series.

The BRC, the UK’s premier series - in which Pryce has twice finished as runner-up - was benched last year. After 12 months of hard work, however, the BRC is back, and bigger and better than ever.

Pryce, who was due to test his brand new Mitsubishi Mirage R5 for the first time on Wednesday, said: “I’ve got to admit, I’m excited to be competing again.

“Since we were second in the Junior World Rally Championship in Poland in the summer, we didn’t do much in the second half of the season. We’ve been building towards this year, which I’m hoping it will be a big one for Dale and I.”

Beyond the opening round of the BRC, Pryce is aiming to return to the World Rally Championship for a programme of European events, starting in May.

“At the moment, the British Rally Championship drive is for Mid Wales only,” Pryce added.“We’ve done a lot of testing in the Mirage with the Spencer Sport team, and that’s been great; working on the development of any car is such a valuable experience for a driver at my level.

“Obviously, I’d love to continue the association with the team, but we’ll have to see what happens after this weekend.”

Pryce is no stranger to the Mid Wales Stages, having tackled the event as a 19-year-old in 2012. He finished in the top 10 and trounced his front-wheel drive rivals in only his second event in a Citroen.

His Mitsubishi Mirage R5 will run in the National Rally Cup this weekend, and while he will be eligible for overall victory on the Mid Wales Stages, he will score points in the NRC element of the British series, rather than the overall BRC.