Ioan Lloyd and Sion Williams secured their third Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK victory of the season at Rali Ceredigion [August 30 – September 1], setting up a thrilling championship finale over the remaining two events.
Promoted by Race & Rally, the new-for-2024 championship for both Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa Rally4 machinery allows drivers to compete across eight, top-class events in Ireland and the UK.
An on-event cash pot of €6,000 is available to the first five crews’ home at each event, with the winner collecting €3,000, sliding down to €500 for fourth place. The fifth-placed driver receives one Michelin Motorsport tyre from distributors Protyre Motorsport Ireland.
Plus, the Junior champion at the end of the season will receive registration to the 2025 FIA Junior European Rally Championship, entry fees to six rounds of the Junior ERC and 12 tyres per round contested in the series, worth almost €40,000.
The three-day Rali Ceredigion was one of the longest events of the season so far and tested drivers’ mettle as they took on not only the contenders from the Junior British Rally Championship, but also the Junior European Rally Championship.
Welshman Lloyd was seen by many as the pre-event favourite given his local knowledge and previous experience of the event, but with 90% of the rally brand-new for 2024, the stage was set for a thrilling encounter.
Championship leaders Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock set the pace on Friday evening’s two Aberystwyth street stages, but once the rally headed for the hills it was Lloyd who proved the yardstick for the rest to chase.
Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen, making the switch from a Peugeot 208 to an Opel Corsa Rally4 in Wales, initially proved to be Lloyd’s closest challenger, but a loss of brakes and then a puncture beset the Irish pairing and let Grogan back ahead.
Grogan would unfortunately be caught out in a muddy braking zone on the first stage of Saturday afternoon that sent them off and stuck in the scenery, leaving Lloyd with a huge lead that he just had to manage.
Soaking up the pressure that brings, the 21-year-old did just that to secure victory and move to just one point behind Grogan in the championship. With dropped scores factored in, Lloyd now heads the standings.
“After the dramas for everyone else it was a matter of just making it through and not making any mistakes, which was really tricky to do in the conditions,” Lloyd said.
“It’s always a great feeling to win at home but this was doubly special as we badly needed this result for our championship.”
Making a return to the Stellantis Cup after missing the previous round, Scotsmen Robert Proudlock and Steven Brown finished second ahead of Kalum Graffin and Mark McGeehan who also made a welcome return to the championship with their first podium result.
Late drama for McBride earned him over three minutes in road penalties, dropping him to fourth while Grogan restarted on Sunday to finish fifth.
The next round of the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK is the Cork 20 International Rally (September 29) before the season finale at the Cambrian Rally (October 26).
