A REAL RISING STAR
Tom llewellin has made a big impact in rally cross in a short time.
Rising star is a term arguably overused in motorsport, but every so often a young driver comes along who is more than worthy of the phrase.
Since his rallycross career began in May 2016 at Pembrey, where he claimed a debut victory in MSA Junior Rallycross, 16-year-old Tom Llewellin has only once not stood on the top step of the podium.
His 13 starts have returned 12 winner’s trophies.
Youngest son of double-british rally champion Dai, Llewellin has impressed at each stage of his short career so far, stunning regulars with his debut performance and winning every one of the selected events he contested in 2016.
The Welsh youngster returned to the Junior RX series, which uses 1300cc Suzuki Swifts, full-time for 2017, driving a Peter Gwynne Motorsport-prepared car in the strongest line-up for some time. But, despite the competition, he dominated, winning every round bar one. He wrapped up the title with an event to spare and, with an eye in 2018, Llewellin competed in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship (for cars with 1600cc and more modifications, such as a limited-slip differential) in the season finale at Croft last month.
By the semi-finals, he was challenging champion-elect Simon Ovenden for race victory, and a demon start in the final meant he led home the seasoned racers in the competitive single-make category to chalk up another event win.
If Llewellin’s Junior performance hadn’t caught onlookers’ imagination, then his Croft display certainly did.
“It’s been amazing this year. To win seven of the eight rounds we did in Juniors, I never would have dreamt that,” explains Llewellin. “This year was much tougher than when I first started. Last year I was winning by half a lap, but this year it’s been three or four seconds, it’s been close.
“The boys have been pushing me hard and I’ve enjoyed it a lot more to have to fight for it. Croft was a good opportunity to see what the Swifts would be like. I know how competitive the class is so I just really wanted my lap times to get quicker and quicker and to try and get into the final. When I was trying to overtake Simon in the semi-finals I was thinking, ‘I might have a chance here’. In the final I had an amazing start and just left them all off the line. I just couldn’t believe it. It was higher than any of my expectations.”
One of Llewellin’s greatest attributes, aside from his abundant natural talent, is his polite demeanour and modesty. Asked why he thinks he has been so dominant in his career so far, he muses: “There’s a bit of luck involved, and the car has been very reliable. But, it’s also the driver as well and I drove as fast as I could.”
Following in Dai’s footsteps, just weeks after his 14th birthday, Llewellin began rallying in 2015, competing in the Junior 1000 Rally Championship in a Peugeot 107 run from the family farm, but it was eight years earlier when he learned to drive.
“When I was four or five I was sitting on dad’s lap in the tractors steering, then I actually started driving a car around the fields at six or seven,” he says. “When I was about 12, I decided I really wanted to go rallying and it was a long two years until I could. I did the Mcrae Stages [at Knockhill] two or three weeks after my [14th] birthday. Obviously there’s loads of photos and trophies around the house and all the stories that dad used to tell me, then I started watching [older brother] Ben, that’s what gave me a real buzz to want to do the same.”
Despite the successful family heritage, Llewellin says having a famous motorsport name hasn’t added any pressure. “Dad always says ‘we’re here to enjoy ourselves, just have fun and show what you can do.’ He’s never said ‘you have to win this one.’ That’s definitely helped me. There is an expectation [because of my surname], but you’ve got to forget about it and just do what you can do.”
Having been competing in the Junior 1000 series, Llewellin’s rallycross debut was on the same weekend as his father and older brother took part in the RX150 Buggy Championship. But while it was a one-off appearance for Dai and Ben, Tom has remained in the sport, still competing for fun and keeping his feet firmly attached to the ground, the young driver has his sights set on making it to the sport’s highest level.
With genuine careers now possible in rallying and rallycross, Llewellin will compete in both disciplines next year. He’ll drive exactly the same Pgm-run car in the Swift Shining Stars Rally Series and Swift Sport Rallycross Championship.
“I want to be at world level at some point in my career, but it’s just the path you take,” he says. “How to get there is quite difficult in motorsport, so we’re still going for a bit of fun, but if I can be successful then all the better.
“We’re keeping our feet in both doors and if an opportunity arises in either then we’ll take it with both hands; we’re just doubling our chances of making it to the top. Peter [Gwynne] and Sarah [Watson] have an amazing team to be part of and I’m really looking forward to next year, and using the same car for both will be really good. It won’t be slightly different; it’ll be exactly the same.”
Opting to focus on rallycross as his major programme in 2017, due to the MSA title and television exposure attached to the Junior rallycross series, Llewellin missed some Junior 1000 events but still finished second in the series, scoring a brace of wins towards the end of the campaign.
Next year, he’s looking ahead to competing in the forests, and also has high hopes for his rallycross campaign too: “I’m really looking forward to the Welsh forests, racing on pace notes and having to listen properly. I think I’ll have to miss the first rounds in the rallying because I won’t be old enough, so I’m not sure if we can fight for the championship there. In rallycross, after [his performance at] Croft we’re looking to go for the championship, which of course everyone will be, but we’ll see what we can do.”
If previous form is a measure for future performance, which is the case more often than not, Llewellin will be a title contender in both his rallycross and rallying programmes in 2018, and has a bright future ahead of him. ■