A Real Rising Star

Tom Llewellin has made a big impact in rallycross in a short time

- Hal Ridge

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.