Monaghan's Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans have been crowned British Rally Champions after the final rounds at the Isle of Man.

The final two rounds of the 2014 MSA British Rally Championship took place at the Rally Isle of Man, and the drivers’ title was to be decided between the Citroën DS 3 crews of Ireland's  Daniel McKenna and Osian Pryce. Citroën also had the opportunity to win a third consecutive constructors’ title in style, and did so seven points ahead of the closest challenging manufacturer.

Pirelli Star Driver Daniel McKenna, a former winner of the Billy Coleman award was in a prime position heading into the rally, with a twenty-two point lead over his rival, Welshman Osian Pryce. However, the double scoring on the Manx event meant the Monaghan driver’s score could be overtaken if Osian Pryce could finish ahead on both legs of the rally, with the second leg counting for points and a half.

Leg one started on Thursday evening, with stage one a blast around Douglas Promenade itself. McKenna and Pryce were pitted head-to-head off the start, and it was Mckenna who was fastest, but then it was onto the real Manx stages. For 21 year old Welsh charger Osian Pryce he had to go for it, and he reeled off a host of fastest times over the night stages to hold a narrow 4.6 second lead. It was Pryce and co-driver Dale Furniss who began in superb form early on Friday, opening up the lead to 18 seconds over the first three stages.

Irishman McKenna kept the gap at 19 seconds entering stage ten called ‘Snuff the Wind’. The wind, however, was taken out of McKenna’s sails on this one as he rollled his DS 3 and it looked to be all over.

“It was bad enough, and I really thought it was all over. We got the car back to the TT Grandstand and the DGM Sport guys had a couple of hours to fix the car to make the 18:30hrs start of the second points scoring event. They did a superb job and we made it, and I really owed it to them and Pirelli to try and secure the championship.”

For Osian Pryce it was a superb start to the event, taking maximum points on round five of the British Rally Championship. With McKenna’s retirement, it became a winner takes all situation for the title over the remaining twelve stages.

The famous Marine Drive stage started round six and Pryce took a full nine seconds off the shaken McKenna in his repaired DS 3. With just a fraction of a second between them on the next stage around the crowded streets of Castletown, the pressure was well and truly on. McKenna then took eight seconds back on the Castle Rushden stage as Osian picked up a puncture, leaving the gap at just over a second between them heading into stage fifteen, a repeat of the previous night’s ‘5 Ton Bridge’ test.

Here McKenna stole ten seconds off Pryce as he once again punctured a tyre, and on the next stage the battle was to be all over. “I simply approached a junction a little too fast, ran wide, hit a kerb and bent the rear suspension badly,” explained Pryce. “It was my mistake, just going a little faster than the previous night. We limped out of the stage but the car was practically un-driveable. The team repaired the car for the Saturday stages, and we used Super Rally to complete the event, but it was over for us really. There are so many people I’d like to thank for giving me this great opportunity, and my co-driver Dale Furniss really deserved to win, but that’s rallying and we have had some great races with Daniel all year.”

For Citroën it was another MSA British Rally Championship constructors’ title, in another season where the DS 3 R3 was the dominant car. The big celebrations, however, were for Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans, with the Monaghan duo taking the British title forty years after the first Irishman Billy Coleman drove his way to victory in 1974.

“It’s a fantastic feeling and we really can’t believe it. We won the Billy Coleman award which helped us to attack the BRC firstly in the R2 car and this year in the DS 3, and to win the title forty years after Billy is very special. Arthur has done an amazing job all year, and he deserves as much credit. The Citroën DS 3 has been a great rally car to drive, and the DGM team have been superb all season. What a job they did this weekend to hammer out the dents! Of course without Pirelli I wouldn’t be here and I hope that this repays the faith they put in me for the Star Driver award.”

McKenna and Pryce also take the first two positions in the Citroën Racing Trophy UK, and with significant prize money on offer all season from Citroën Racing it has been a rewarding one for the crews