“Fantastic!” was the verdict of Ioan Lloyd after a day of drama on the Nicky Grist Stages.
Round three of the British Rally Championship saw the young John Easson Award winner on home territory – and intent on getting his Peugeot 208R4 to the finish.
“We had a fantastic day back on gravel with a phenomenal car,” said Ioan,
who had regular co-driver Sion Williams alongside him.
“It was a bit of a mixed morning after battling with the other Junior British Championship boys. Only four seconds separated the top four after the opening two stages, but we then destroyed two tyres in the next stage, which resulted in us running wide and stalling the car.
“We were unable to restart for several minutes, and we had to get Sion and the marshals to bump start us.”
The pair decided to take the safe option and miss stage four in Crychan forest, and head back to service.
“We had already dropped out of the podium places, so we decided not to risk anything, and the team did a brilliant job getting the car sorted so that we could rejoin for the afternoon loop,” explained Ioan.
“The intention was to get some more experience on these brilliant stages.
“Fifth in the JBRC wasn’t the result we wanted but we were really happy with our pace, setting second and third fastest times during the day and mixing it with Max McRae, Eammon Kelly and Kyle White.
“We are already looking forward to round four of the championship, the Grampian Forest Rally next month.”
*Congratulations too for former John Easson Award winner Osian Pryce, who took the outright win on the Nicky Grist Stages in his Volkswagen Polo R5
Ioan Lloyd would like to thank
West Wales Rally Spares
2300 Club John Easson Award
Moduron Teifi Motors
Atech Racing
Motordrive Seats
Peugeot Sport UK/Ireland
Harris Signs & Graphics Ltd.
Rick’s Bodyshop
Garej Tynypistyll
Safety Devices International Ltd
David Byrne Autorepairs
Mintex
British Rally Championship
Gareth Owens Building Contractor
Photo credit Mark Wilkinson 2300club
