LLOYD SCORES IMPORTANT VICTORY IN IRELAND

LLOYD SCORES IMPORTANT VICTORY IN IRELAND

20 MARCH 2024 20:10

Wednesday 20 March 2024

LLOYD SCORES IMPORTANT VICTORY IN IRELAND

Welsh rally star Ioan Lloyd and his co-driver Sion Williams made rallying history in Ireland over the weekend (March 15-17) by becoming the first ever winners in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup.

Lloyd, 21-years old from Llandysul in West Wales, scored an emphatic victory in his Peugeot 208 Rally4 despite demanding conditions on the three-day West Cork Rally, one of the longest and toughest special stage rallies in Ireland.

After a big battle with Irish crew, Cian Caldwell and Liam Egan, Lloyd and Williams moved ahead on the final day to win by over 27 seconds after a superb performance in their Peugeot.

The Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup is a new initiative for 2024 designed to promote the best young talent in identical rally cars from both the UK and Ireland. The end of season prize fund is a significant budget contribution towards moving up into the junior European Rally Championship in 2025.

The closed road special stages of Cork were a challenging mix of wet and dry on Friday's opening leg but very wet and slippery on Saturday. Lloyd came into his own in the conditions to set a fierce pace and moved into the lead of the Stellantis contenders. On the final day, Lloyd was able to extend his lead and take a hugely impressive victory.

After spraying the champagne, Ioan said: “I'm absolutely delighted take the win here in West Cork. It was some battle with Cian. It was a very tricky weekend in some demanding conditions. We struggled a bit to get into a rhythm on Friday, but we managed to get settled back into a nice groove on Saturday and Sunday. It's a fantastic new series.”

Victory in Ireland was the perfect start for Lloyd in the high-profile championship and the action now moves closer to home for round two, the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages on April 13which is based in Builth Wells and uses the famous forest tracks of Myherin and Hafren.

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)

For more details about Ioan Lloyd Rallying, please visit ioanlloydrallying.co.uk

Issued on behalf of Ioan Lloyd by Paul Lawrence (07778 547918).

Photos kindly supplied by Cian Donnellan and D Harrigan