Common sense says yes, wording of the regulation not so much. But I think you would have a good argument:
Option 1 is that you MUST pass a proficiency check within the 3 months immediately before the ratings expiry date. Think about that wording. It implies that you CANNOT take a proficiency check at any other time, only month 22, 23 or 24. That is clearly bo11ocks because I'm pretty sure you can take another PC any time you like and reset your validity.
We must assume therefore that what they actually mean is: "If you want to keep your original expiry date, then the PC must be done in the last 3 months."
Using that same logic on option 2 you could argue that the regulation is actually saying: : "If you want to keep your original expiry date, it must be done in the final 12 months preceeding the expiry date" Because you wish to revalidate early, you are effectively changing the expiry date and thus the final 12 months should be whatever period you want them to be.