JASON Pritchard was denied in his quest of securing his best ever finish in the World Rally Championship last weekend.
Pritchard had no qualms in blaming officials and marshals following his retirement on stage 16 at the start of the Sweet Lamb stages.
A jump on the stage was not brought to all drivers’ attention on approach with Pritchard’s previous good form over the first two days of competition unfortunately counting for nothing.
The Builth Wells ace was joined by Llanfyllin-based co-driver Dale Furniss in a North Road Garage backed Subaru Impreza when the vehile landed in the dangerous hole on stage 16.
At the time Pritchard was 18th overall and third in the Production World Rally Championship and was bearing down on second place when disaster struck.
Pritchard said: “I’m distraught that we couldn’t finish the race, I understand how testing this sport is and understand the consequences of driving at the speed we do, but this shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
“We had been warned throughout the rally about dangerous landings after the jumps and we approached these stages in a controlled manner, however there was no warning about the situation on stage 16.
The stage also claimed Machynlleth-based rally ace Elfyn Evans with his Ford Fiesta also a victim of the hole.
“You only have to look at how myself and the other drivers went out to see that the marshals should have been slowing us down. It was crazy.”
Pritchard and Furniss escaped the incident unhurt and Furniss also used his initiative to warn other drivers about the hole by waving the cars to slow down as they approached the jump.
Pritchard also hailed the quick thinking of his co-driver who prevented a host of other crews suffering the same fate but was left stunned when marshals told the co-driver to stop.
“Dale reacted like anyone would’ve, he jumped out and warned approaching drivers to slow down, something the marshals should’ve been doing. I can’t believe they told him to stop the warning. We would’ve made it to the last day and the finish if someone was warning us.”
This year's Wales Rally GB included a considerably revised route compared to previous years and enjoyed a ceremonial start in Llandudno.
The 1150-mile rally ventured southwards with the high speed action on many of Wales' most renowned forest stages and the event culminated with a ceremonial finish in Cardiff on Sunday.
Pritchard made steady progress throughout the first few days, the start on the tarmac during the Great Orme stage was understandably cautious but Pritchard made good time through the gravel stage on the Friday which saw him finish the day fourth in the PWRC.
On Saturday the 23-year-old stepped up a gear and made great progress throughout the morning and he moved up to third place when disaster struck.
Pritchard added: “I was feeling very relaxed during Saturday’s stages, we were really up on the pace and I could feel myself getting quicker as the day progressed. That’s why it hurt so much to go out the race in the manner that we did.