Tom Tagged Out Of Race For Victory

By Paul Evans

Reigning MSA Junior Rallycross champion Tom Llewellin was denied a possible victory in the Swift Sport Championship when he was tagged by another car and forced into the gravel trap in the Final at Lydden Hill.

The 16-year old from Haverfordwest – younger brother of Team Wales Commonwealth Games skeet shooter Ben Llewellin – is contesting the single-make British Rallycross Championship feeder series this year.

Despite the atrocious weather conditions over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, Llewellin was driving extremely well and making good progress – finishing sixth, fifth and fourth in the three Heats to qualify for the Semi Final. He then finished a flying second to give himself an all-important place in the Final.

In the Final, the teenager made a great start and was dicing for the lead – before a clash with another driver ended his hopes of victory.

“We had a steady run through practice and made a couple of modifications to the car to improve it, so by the time the heats came around I was on the pace that I expected,” said Llewellin. “In the Semi Final I was matching the times of the top drivers and finished second, so I was feeling good for the Final. I made a good start and got my joker lap out of the way, and was dicing for the lead when I was tagged by another driver which put me into the gravel with two laps to go – so that was race over for me. It was very disappointing to be classified only eighth, but it was a few more important points for me and we’ll try again at Croft on May 6th. As ever, I’d like to thank the PGM Team who again did a great job and thanks also to my sponsors and family.”