LLANDYSUL’S Ioan Lloyd is aiming to take his strong pace from last weekend’s Rallye Castine in France into the second round of the FIA Junior European Rally Championship, Rally Hungary on May 9-11.

Lloyd, 22, and his co-driver Sion Williams, are contesting the high-profile 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.

The six-round championship opened in Spain last month and continues after Hungary with events in Poland in June, Italy in July, the Czech Republic in August, and Croatia in early October.

Lloyd and Williams are part of a very strong four-car team from TRT, which includes Rally2 cars for Mads Ostberg and Max McRae and Rally4 cars for Lloyd and young Irishman Keelan Grogan.

Lloyd says that the chance to compete in Rallye Castine with support from Peugeot Sport was an incredible opportunity.

He said: “It was an absolutely amazing experience. We loved every second of it. The team was phenomenal to work with and the welcome in France was just fantastic.

“The roads were very, very narrow. We started really well with the second fastest time on the opening stage even though we caught a car towards the end of that stage. So, it could possibly have been even better.

“Then on the second stage, I just slid wide and the car wouldn’t restart for 10 minutes. As soon as it did start, we backed out and carried on but that was game over.

“We had a couple of good times after that, including a third fastest. Then we had a very light roll on the last stage on Saturday. The ruts were getting quite bad and we couldn't believe it actually went over. It just fell over. We went back onto the wheels and got going again.

“The service team did a mega job and got us ready to go again on Sunday morning and we had a good opener again with third fastest. We were only four seconds off fastest and we caught a car there as well, which probably cost us 10 seconds.

“The potential was there to be fastest amongst the French drivers, which we definitely didn't expect before the event. We were really happy, because the competition in France is very strong so there were a lot of positives to take from our pace.

“The car was run by students from Lycee Saint Vallier and they're absolutely top class.

“They're all motorsport students and really professional. There was a very positive energy to the team and the feedback from Peugeot was very good after the event. I’d like to say a massive thank you to Stellantis Motorsport for the opportunity.”

Ioan and Sion flew straight from France to Hungary via a flight to Stansted and are now preparing for Rally Hungary with a test today (7 May).

Rally Hungary is round 2 of the FIA Junior European Rally Championship and runs from Friday to Sunday (May 9-11) from a base in the city of Veszprem, which is to the east of Budapest.

Qualifying and the super special stage run on Friday before two long tough days including the 16-mile Kisloter stage which is run twice on Saturday. Ioan and Sion are seeded fifth among the 21-strong Junior ERC field.

Ioan added: “I'm really looking forward to Hungary. To be back on gravel is class! I’d forgotten how much I missed it.

“I think Rally Hungary is quite a battle for survival against punctures. It's a tough event in that respect. So we need to try and keep our noses clean. Hopefully, we can carry the speed we had in France into this weekend and have a clean run.”

Ioan Lloyd is 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.

May 9-11 Rally Hungary

Jun 13-15 Rally Poland

Jul 4-6 Rally di Roma Capitale (Italy)

Aug 15-17 Barum Czech Rally Zlin (Czech Republic)

Oct 3-5 Croatia Rally