Ioan Lloyd and co-driver Sion Williams will return to rallying on gravel for this weekend's Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages, round two of the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup.
Ioan says that competing in his home country of Wales and on famous gravel stage in his Peugeot 208 Rally4 will be a real buzz but expects tough competition from his championship rivals.
The Builth Wells based event is round two of the Stellantis Cup, which is designed to promote the best young talent from both the UK and Ireland competing in identical rally cars. Lloyd heads to the rally as the early championship leader after scoring an impressive victory on the West Cork Rally in Ireland last month.
Now he will return to gravel rallying for the first time since 2022 on an event that takes in the famous Wales Rally GB special stages of Myherin and Hafren.
“We had a good test on gravel last week,” said Ioan. “So hopefully we can find a good feeling this weekend. It was good to get some seat time on the loose and I'd forgotten how much fun it is!”
Lloyd, 21-years old from Llandysul, says that the opposition who will be tough on Saturday's rally. “The Irish boys have been doing some gravel events at home so they'll be match fit and there will be no time to settle in. It will be flat out from the start.”
All of the crews will get to see the stages on Friday during the pre-event slow-speed recce, which gives Ioan and Sion the chance to make their own pace notes for the rally.
“It's always good to compete at home and it's great to be back competing in Wales again,” said Ioan. “After the asphalt of West Cork, this is all new for the championship contenders and it's going to be a very interesting and very competitive weekend.”
Ioan Lloyd is proud to be supported by West Wales Rally Spares, David Byrne Auto Repairs of Wexford, Abba Tree Specialist, Motordrive Seats, Towy Electrical Co Ltd, Atech Racing, Garej Tyn y Pistyll, Monit Motorsport, Mintex, the 2300 Club John Easson Award, Kielder WT, Safety Devices International, TRS Safety Harnesses, Bleddyn Thomas Contracting, Pro Dent, Rick’s Body Shop, Huw Jeffreys and Sons Plumbing and Heating Engineers and Neil Spain.
The remaining 2024 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup calendar:
April 13 Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages (Wales)
May 4-5 Killarney Rally of the Lakes (Ireland)
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)
Loan LLoyd Rallying
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