Rising Welsh rally star Ioan Lloyd will head to the Scottish Borders this weekend to contest the third round of the Probite British Rally Championship in his Peugeot 208 Rally4.
Lloyd will contest the closed road rally based in the town of Duns as part of his bid to add success in this year’s Junior British Rally Championship to his campaign in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup.
The Jim Clark Rally, which celebrates the memory of the 1960s Grand Prix star who lived near Duns, covers 14 special stages through Friday evening and Saturday in a route of 87 stage miles. For this event only, the 21-year old from Llandysul will have the hugely experienced Gwynfor Jones as his co-driver as his regular co-driver Sion Williams is away.
Fresh from victory in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup on the Rally of the Lakes in Ireland at the beginning of the month, Ioan will tackle the Jim Clark Rally in a bid for major points in the JBRC.
Lloyd said: “It ties in well because four rounds of the JBRC are the same as the Stellantis Cup, so it makes sense to try and do both. We need one more good score in the JBRC and the Jim Clark will also be good seat time for us ahead of the Donegal Rally in late June.”
Ioan’s last visit to the Jim Clark didn’t go so well when he rolled out of the rally near the start of what was only his second asphalt close road event. “We’ve learned a lot since then and the stages look very fast and flowing. I hope it’s dry because it can be tricky if it’s wet with a lot of shiny asphalt,” he said.
“We have to be on it from the start, just as every rally this year, and it’s all about racking up the points where we can.” Among Lloyd’s key rivals for the Scottish event will be young Irishman Ryan McHugh. “He’s the main threat as well as people like Kyle McBride. But to be honest, they’re all fast in the RC4 class.”
Although they have not done a competitive event before, Ioan and Gwynfor have worked closely together for some time. “It’s a privilege to have him in the car. I’ve done a lot of work on the notes with Gwynfor and he’s been with us during testing so I’m very comfortable with him in the car. He’s got so much experience.”
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 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.
