UK’s latest stage star is preparing to take Vauxhall back to the top as championship kicks off today
“It was always supposed to be a hobby. I started doing a few events to learn car control, basically.”
There’s a charming modesty about Britain’s latest rally hopeful, 23-year-old Ioan Lloyd. Rallying courses through his veins – small wonder for a young lad growing up in Llandysul, west Wales – but it began as a passion above all else.
“My dad was a rally driver,” says Lloyd. “He got into navigating initially. Then he started driving in the early ’90s. So I think it was always in my blood. I was never going to play football!” Young Ioan couldn’t be kept away from the stages or service areas. “I was always grabbing the spanners and trying to help out where I could,” he says. “Any time I got back from school and he was testing the car, I was first to jump in. I wanted to go to every single rally, even if Dad wasn’t doing it. Whatever the weather, I just grabbed a coat and got out there in the wellies.”
A progression from the side of the stages was inevitable. Ioan began competition aged 14 in the F1000 Junior Rally Championship. Capped at 1000cc, he was driving on airfields in a Nissan Micra, Citroën C1 and Peugeot 107. “When I turned 17, I passed my driving test on a Friday and did my first senior rally in a Mk2 Ford Escort the next day,” he says. A season at Welsh national level in a Peugeot 208 followed, and Lloyd won his class.
Winning the Stellantis Rally Cup Ire & UK in 2024 promoted him to the Junior European Rally Championship for the next season, where he finished runner-up to good pal Calle Carlberg. Stability breeds success, and Lloyd has been with co-driver Sion Williams for more than five years. “He’s also a young Welshman. We’ve built a great relationship together and worked well from day one. Once you click with a co-driver, you try to stay with them. We have a lot of fun,” says Lloyd.
He’s an avid hot hatch driver on the road and favours left-hand-drive cars to keep his road positioning sharp in competition. This is clearly a young man with more than a glint of ambition in his eye. So what comes next? “The top is where we all want to end up,” he says, alluding to the WRC. “It’s a long road to that and I think you just have to enjoy the experience and grab your opportunities with both hands. In recent years, the plan has come together really well. We’ve conquered each challenge, enabling us to take a natural progression through the sport.”
The pair’s success made them blip loudly on Vauxhall’s radar for its works ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup campaign this year. It’s a big deal, because it returns the griffin badge to motorsport officially after a decent hiatus. “Ioan is a very talented young driver – professional, focused and calm,” says Opel-Vauxhall Motorsport head Jörg Schrott. “I am sure he will be fighting for the top places in 2026.”
Seven rounds across Europe mean it’s now Gareth Lloyd’s turn to follow his son everywhere. “My mum and dad are really supportive, and it means they get to see the world as well, which is never a bad thing,” says Ioan, grinning. “Dad’s got 40 years of rallying experience. You can’t buy that. I’m really lucky to have him by my side.”
Other idols befit a driver of Ioan’s generation, Sébastien Loeb and Colin McRae chief among them. “The way Colin could set a car up, being so flamboyant while also putting in the stage times. He’s one of the best there’s been,” says Lloyd. That doesn’t mean he will attempt to emulate McRae’s technique, though. “Try that and you probably won’t be fast – or it’ll end up in a mess,” he says. “Everybody’s got their own unique driving style, which is the best thing about rallying. I’d say mine’s quite smooth.”
Lloyd wears his bobble hat proudly, so if he could have a go in any rally car, what would he pick? “A [Peugeot] 306 Maxi or [a Vauxhall] Astra F2. That whole era of Kit Cars looks class. I love playing back old Duke rally videos of Mark Higgins and all those guys. It’s awesome to watch.” Clearly, old hobbies die hard.
What he’ll be driving
The electric Mokka GSE Rally that Lloyd is driving in 2026 shares much with its roadgoing namesake and has twice the power of the Corsa Rally Electric that it replaces. It’s loud, synthesised sound divides opinion in a closed paddock, although it ought to clear the stages as it approaches.
“The spectators have got to be excited,” says Lloyd. “People are going to be surprised with the speed, there’s no doubt. It will probably raise a few eyebrows.”
Lloyd takes me for a quick blast around an improvised Tarmac autotest course. These are among his very first miles in the car, but he’s already having a blast, yanking the hydraulic handbrake to pivot us swiftly around each cone before demonstrating the differential’s ability to hook up much of the Mokka’s 276bhp on exit.
He says: “It’s got a lot of power, but its delivery is quite smooth, albeit instant, and you can manage it very well. And there’s a lot of feedback from the rear of the car. It doesn’t bite you when it breaks away. It’s quite a nice progressive feeling. I can’t wait to get it on a proper rally stage.”
Where to catch him
The 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup looks very road-trippable from the UK if you want to cheer Lloyd on. Don’t forget your wellies…
29-30 May ELE Rally, Eindhoven, Netherlands
13-14 Jun Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, Gérardmer, France
17-18 Jul Rallye Weiz, Austria
14-15 Aug ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, St Wendel, Germany
25-26 Sep ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg, Lübbecke, Germany
17-18 Oct Rallye Sanremo, Italy
28-29 Nov Rallye Spa, Belgium
