RISING Welsh rally stars Ioan Lloyd and his co-driver Sion Williams scored a fantastic victory on round three of the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup in Ireland over the weekend.
Lloyd, 21-years old from Llandysul, was contesting the Killarney Rally of the Lakes, which is round three of the new series for young drivers in identical Rally4 cars and claimed his second win from three events with a superb drive against fierce opposition.
The new one-make championship for Rally4 Peugeot 208s and Opel Corsas drew a strong entry of the best young drivers from both sides of the Irish Sea to the famous and challenging Irish rally, which runs over some of the most spectacular closed roads special stages in the region.
When the rally started on Saturday Lloyd took an immediate lead over chief rivals Cian Caldwell and Keelan Grogan. Their battle raged throughout two days and it was only on day two that Ioan was able to stretch out a small but crucial lead to win by 26 seconds. Remarkably, he also finished 13th overall and second two-wheel drive car from 130 starters.
Their success followed victory in round one in West Cork in March and put them right back into contention after a non-finish on round two, the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages in April.
“I'm absolutely chuffed to bounce back with a win,” said Lloyd. “It was a brilliant weekend, but it was some race and it was never easy. The roads were dry and it was flat out from the start with no let up. We had such a close battle with the other boys. Ryan MacHugh was in there as well in his Fiesta Rally4 and he's been on fire this year.”
Not only did Lloyd take maximum points and prize money in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup, but he also won the RC4 class on the rally to complete a perfect weekend
“Winning the class was a bonus but we needed to focus on the Stellantis Cup. Keelan and Cian were so close and we had to stay on it. But we had an absolutely clean weekend and it's put our championship right back on track. The car was perfect!”
Lloyd will now look ahead to his next rally, the Jim Clark Rally in the Scottish Borders on 24-25 May, which is round three of the Probite British Rally Championship.
Ioan Lloyd is proud to be supported by David Byrne Auto Repairs, West Wales Rally Spares, Huw Jeffreys and Sons Plumbing and Heating Engineers, Mark Jukes Containers, Abba Tree Specialist, Motordrive Seats, Towy Electrical Ltd, Panta Racing Fuel, Atech Racing, Bleddyn Thomas Haulage Contractors, Garej Tyn y Pistyll, ABC Autosport Bearings and Components, Freemans Bodyshop, Monit Motorsport, Solid Designs, Neil Spain, Mintex, 2300 Club John Easson Award, Kielder WT, Gareth Owens Building Contractor, Moduron Teifi Motors, Safety Devices International Ltd, TRS Safety Equipment, Pro Dent, Gomer Press, Rick’s Body Shop, Wyn Thomas Heating and On The Pacenote.
The remaining 2024 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup calendar:
June 21-23 Donegal Rally (Ireland)
August 9-10 Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally (Scotland)
Aug 31-Sept 1 JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion (Wales)
September 29 Cork 20 Rally (Ireland)
October 26 Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally (Wales)