IOAN Lloyd will head into Saturday’s Cambrian Rally bidding to win the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup and scoop the prize of a substantial support package for next year's Junior European Rally Championship.
Young Welsh ace Lloyd, 22-years old, from Llandysul and co-driver Sion Williams will contest the Llandudno-based rally in their Peugeot 208 Rally4 knowing that a top five finish among the Stellantis contenders will be enough to seal one of the most prestigious titles in UK and Irish rallying.
Three ambitious young drivers will go into this weekend’s final round of the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup with a chance of winning the title. Lloyd and Williams hold the advantage over Irish drivers Keelan Grogan and Kyle McBride.
Lloyd has taken three wins, two seconds and scored two non-finishes so far and needs only to finish in the top five Stellantis contenders to make certain of the title.
Meanwhile, Grogan and McBride need to go all out for victory and then see what happens to Lloyd as the fiercely competitive season in identical Rally4 cars comes to a final showdown.
In addition to the Stellantis Cup, Lloyd is also in contention for the Junior British Rally Championship title. If Lloyd wins the JBRC category, he will be champion even if his main rival Robert Proudlock finishes second when the deciding margin would be just half a point.
As well as Lloyd and Proudlock, Irish youngsters McBride, Ryan MacHugh, Kalum Graffin and Grogan are all in with a chance of taking the JBRC title in their Rally4 cars.
Lloyd said: “It will be good to do a gravel rally back in Wales. We had a good run on the Clare Forestry stages and got a good feeling for gravel again.
“We've got a job to do, and it's to finish in the top five for the Stellantis Cup.
“That's our prime aim. The Junior BRC is still an opportunity, but the Stellantis has been our main focus this year and so we'll just find a pace that we are comfortable with and not take any unnecessary risks.
]”Winning the Junior BRC title would be a nice bonus if it does go in our favour, but we're focused on trying to win the Stellantis Cup. We've worked hard to get where we are in the Stellantis points.”
He added: “I did the Cambrian two years ago, but I don't know all the stages.
“Clocaenog is 16 miles long so it is a big stage. It will be important to get through it with a nice and clean run. The Brenig stage looks class, and I don't think it has been used in this format since Rally GB in 2019.”
Ioan Lloyd is 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, Towy Works and On The Pacenote.
ARE Refrigeration and Electrical and Wyn Thomas Heating are Ioan’s prime partners for the Cambrian Rally.