There is always a Kerry connection: Five Things You Didn’t Know About David Llewellin

There is always a Kerry connection: Five Things You Didn’t Know About David Llewellin

There’s always a Kerry connection – even when it comes to a two-time British Rally Champion!

Kerry Motorsport News had the pleasure of co-driving with David Llewellin at Déjà Vu Waterford last weekend, and while his rallying record is legendary, here are five things you might not know about the Welshman including a few surprising Kerry links!

1. His First Overseas Rally Was in Killarney

David’s first event outside Wales was none other than the 1981 Rally of the Lakes run from the Gleneagle Hotel.
Driving a Ford Escort RS1800 Mk2 with James Martin alongside, the pair started at number 48 and stormed to third overall.

2. He Once Lived in Glenbeigh

Yes, you read that right . David once called Glenbeigh home! During that time, he became close friends with the Lynch family, well-known in both handball and rallying circles.
He worked for a company that supplied materials to the Liebherr Container Crane Factory in Fossa.

3. The Audi Quattro Story Has a Killarney Twist

The stunning Audi Quattro that Llewellin drove at Déjà Vu Waterford is owned by Radley Engineering, originally from Millstreet, County Cork.

The Radley family are serious motorsport enthusiasts with an enviable collection of historic rally cars. They also made history themselves as the very first title sponsor of the Rally of the Lakes back in 1979.

4. A Karting Star Turned Rally Convert

Before rallying, David’s focus was on karting, and he was talented enough to earn a place on the British national karting team as a teenager. The next logical step was into single-seaters – until fate intervened.

A friend invited him to watch the famous Cilwendeg Road Rally in South Wales, and that one night changed everything. From then on, Llewellin swapped circuits for special stages and the rest, as they say, is history.

5. The MG Metro

Llewellin’s 1986 Circuit of Ireland win was special for several reasons . It was his first international victory, the first ever international win for the MG Metro 6R4, and the first international win for the RED Preparation team.
Years later, an Irish enthusiast tried to sell David what he thought was that very Metro only to discover the car had been destroyed in a spectacular crash on the Welsh Rally just weeks after its Circuit triumph. As David dryly recalls, “All that’s left of it is the number plate – the rest is still somewhere at the bottom of Brechfa Forest.”

Bonus Fact: Rallying and Shooting Run in the Family

David’s sons have both made names for themselves in sport.

Ben Llewellin is a world-class sports shooter, who won silver for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and became European Champion in men’s skeet in July 2025.

Tom Llewellin followed in his father’s tyre tracks and will contest this year’s Roger Albert Clark Rally in a historic Ford Escort MkII.

From karting to Quattros, from Killarney to Glenbeigh, David Llewellin’s story is woven through with Irish and especially Kerry –connections.

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