IOAN Lloyd and co-driver Sion Williams scored another great result when they finished fourth on the Rally di Roma Capitale in Italy (4-6 July ), round four of the FIA Junior European Rally Championship as they finished less than five seconds away from second place.

Based in Fiuggi to the east of Rome, the high-profile rally opened with a short opening special stage next to the spectacular and historic Colosseum in Rome.

The rally then ran through Saturday and Sunday, with 13 asphalt stages covering 130 miles of competition.

Lloyd, 22-years old from Llandysul and his co-driver Williams from Blaenau Ffestiniog are contesting the hugely competitive international series in a Peugeot 208 Rally4 from Tagai Racing Technology (TRT) based in Hungary.

The Junior ERC is one of the most competitive and prestigious junior rally championships in the world.

It's designed for young, emerging drivers, typically under 27 years old, who compete in Rally4 and Rally5 cars.

The winner of the Junior ERC is awarded a prize drive in the Junior WRC Championship.

Ioan was thrilled with another strong result, which keeps him second in the JERC standings with two rounds left to run.

He said: “Another podium would have been even better. But I was still delighted as it was a really good result.

“When you look at how close the race was from second to fifth, we were only 4.3s from second and just 1.2s from third!

“The team did a fantastic job, as always, and Sion as well did a superb job.

“It was quite a demanding rally from his side with very busy notes.

“The stages were quite technical and flowing in some part.

“The 22-mile stage in 38 degree heat was pretty savage but we coped better than I expected.

“I think we were just expecting it to be really tough for the heat.

“When you prepare yourself for that, when you get to it, it's not so bad.”

A brake issue on the final stage of the loop on Saturday afternoon cost some time, but otherwise Ioan had a clear run and his fourth top five result from four rallies keeps him second in the JERC points.

He added: “We’re 13 points ahead of Estonian driver Jaspar Vaher so it’s still very much all to play for.

“I was absolutely delighted to get our first JERC stage win on SS11 on Sunday and then win the Power Stage as well.

“When you look back at the first round in Spain, compared to the front guys, it's a lot, lot closer now.

So it's really rewarding to see our progress,” said Ioan after another fine performance.

Ioan Lloyd is proud to be supported by David Byrne Auto Repairs, West Wales Rally Spares, Huw Jeffreys and Sons Plumbing and Heating Engineers, Suirway Forklifts, Towy Works, Mark Jukes Containers, Allglass Anglia, ARE Refrigeration and Electrical, 2300 Club John Easson Award, Towy Electrical Ltd, BCC IT, Wyn Thomas Heating, Peugeot Sport UK/Ireland, Motordrive Seats, Castell Howell Foods, Garej Tyn y Pistyll, Monit Motorsport, Solid Designs, Gomer Press, Atech Racing, A1 Detailing, Neil Spain, Mintex, Kielder WT, Gareth Owens Building Contractor, Safety Devices International Ltd, TRS Safety Equipment and Abba Trees.

The remaining schedule for the FIA Junior European Rally Championship is: 15-17 August, Barum Czech Rally Zlin (Czech Republic); 3-5 October, Croatia Rally