2024 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK champions Loan Lloyd and co-driver Sion Williams secured an outstanding second place in the FIA Junior European Rally Championship during the Croatia Rally (October 3-5).
Lloyd and Williams headed to Croatia as part of their prize for winning the Stellantis Cup last season, offering a prize package into the FIA ERC worth around 40,000 Euros. The final round of the year saw them lying second overall in the Junior ERC after a fabulous debut season at this level and were determined to hold that position against strong opposition. Although they did not finish the rally, they were confirmed as championship runners-up after their rivals crashed out.
Lloyd, 23-years old from Llandysul in West Wales and his co-driver Williams have contested the hugely competitive international series in a Peugeot 208 Rally4 from Tagai Racing Technology (TRT) based in Hungary. The six-round Junior ERC is one of the most competitive and prestigious junior rally championships in the world.
Croatia Rally covered 180km of competitive rallying in 10 special stages and some of the lowest grip asphalt that Lloyd has experienced. To add to the challenge, conditions were wet for the second day of the rally.
Unfortunately, they picked up a puncture on the third stage on Saturday and drove around five kilometres to the finish of the stage. “It was the right call, because we only dropped a minute,” said Ioan. Had they stopped to change the wheel, it would have cost them more than two minutes. However, their main challenger for second place, Irishman Craig Rahill, crashed out of the rally, which immediately took the pressure off Lloyd and Williams.
“We had a good afternoon loop and fought back from the puncture, which dropped us to P6, and we came back to third. So we were sitting in a podium position going into Sunday,” said Ioan. “We knew the forecast was going to be really wet for Sunday. It’s the first time I’ve experienced low grip tarmac even in the dry. So we knew it was going to be a challenge in the wet.
“It was more of a survival day on Sunday,” continued Ioan. “I didn’t feel like we were going that well, but the split times were really good. I think we were four and a half seconds faster than leader Calle Carlberg. We can be really happy with that.
“But then we had a really slow speed spin on a six left. There was a lot of gravel pulled out of the cut and it was so narrow there. The front wheels dropped off the edge of the road and couldn’t get enough traction to get out. It was just one of those low speed spins and we were just unlucky,” said Ioan.
“In the end, it didn’t make a difference to our championship result. Of course it would have been nice to finish on the podium. But there were a lot of positives to take from another really, really tricky rally. We went to Croatia to make sure we finished second in the championship and we managed that.
“It’s been a record year for the Junior ERC and the depth of competition has been incredible. At the start of the season we would never have expected to finish second. Our aim was to be fighting for podiums come the end of the year. But we had our first podium on the third event of the season so the result has far exceeded anything we could have dreamed of this year. For our first year at this level, I think we can be really proud.”
Lloyd is already starting work on his plans for 2026 when he wants to return to the Junior ERC. “I’d like to see us back in Junior ERC next year to build on the experience of everything we’ve learned this year. After finishing second in the first year, we should be in good position to try our best to fight for a win next year.
“I’d like to say a massive thank you to the sponsors that have been loyal to us and made this all possible this year. Hopefully we can return to competing in Europe next year!”
