IOAN Lloyd scored important points in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup during the fifth of eight rounds of the championship on the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally in northern Scotland (August 9-10).

Young Welsh ace Lloyd, 21-years old, from Llandysul and co-driver Sion Williams headed north with their Peugeot 208 Rally4 knowing that they needed a strong finish to keep their championship bid on track after two victories and two non-scores in the opening four events.

The rally started with two stages on Friday evening, and Ioan found the very loose gravel a challenge on stages that caught out several of the leading crews.

“It took a bit of getting into,” he said. “But I found a better rhythm on Saturday, and even set the fastest two-wheel-drive stage time on SS8, Finglennie 2.”

After the first three stages on Saturday, Ioan was just five seconds down on main rival Keelan Grogan when disaster struck.

The turbo boost pipe came loose and he immediately recognised what the problem was.

Ioan pulled over mid-stage and was able to refit the pipe but lost four minutes in the process.

Despite the time lost, Lloyd and Williams pressed on, and soon saw championship rival Kyle McBride off the road in the same stage.

“It was important that we were able to repair the boost pipe and carry on through the stage as we came across Kyle Mcbride’s accident and Ryan MacHugh struggling with a broken wheel.

“It was a real shame to see both crews out as they were on great pace,” said Lloyd, who went on to finish second to Grogan and score 18 important championship points.

“If before the rally you had said we'd finish P2 I would have been more than happy.

“It keeps us in the fight heading into Rali Ceredigion, which is our home event and the next round. We've had our summer break and now the events are coming thick and fast.

“It's very close at the top, and we've just got to try our best to pick up good points. It was very important that we finished in Scotland, so I'm happy enough with the result.”

With the best seven scores to count from eight events, Grogan currently needs to drop an eight point score while Lloyd will drop a zero from his non-finish in Donegal. So the gap that is currently 16 points will come down to eight if both drivers score across the remaining rounds.

For the Grampian Rally, Lloyd's Peugeot 208 Rally4 was run by G and M Rally Preparation Services of Perth. “They're good friends and they did a super job. So a very big thank you to them for all their help on the event,” said Lloyd.

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 M mnk