Wraps came off winning the rally car livery at Deeside Rally Village today

Toyota GAZOO Racing WRC star Jari-Matti Latvala and Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy & Infrastructure, Ken Skates proudly pulled the covers off a Toyota GT86 sports car bearing the prize-winning livery penned by secondary school pupil Rheinallt Jones at Deeside Rally Village today, ahead of this weekend’s all-action Dayinsure Wales Rally GB.

Twelve-year-old Rheinallt – a Year 8 student at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni on Anglesey – was the creative force behind the winning effort, with his striking patriotic dragon design proving to be the most popular amongst the hundreds of entries received in the Wales-wide competition.

The car arrived at Deeside after a short stop-off at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni on Tuesday, where it drew many an admiring glance from fellow pupils and Headmaster Clive Thomas, who joined Rheinallt for the public unveiling at Deeside today in front of the world’s leading motor sport media.

“I’m very proud that my design won the competition,” enthused Rheinallt, who was additionally presented with a 1:18 scale model of his liveried car and an artist’s impression of the GT86 signed by Toyota GAZOO Racing WRC drivers Latvala, Juho Hänninen and Esapekka Lappi as well as Team Principal, four-time WRC Champion and Tommi Mäkinen.

“I tried to think of what would look cool and came up with the red dragon on the Welsh flag and then changed the shape to fit the car. I went through multiple designs and it took about a week to settle on the final one. I’m a big rallying and motor sport fan in general, so I’m really excited to be here with my friends and family and am looking forward to taking them along to see some of the action.

The car – kindly provided by Toyota UK – will remain on show in the free-to-enter Rally Village throughout the weekend in front of the ‘Big Bang’ Industry Awareness STEM exhibition, which will provide inspiration for more than 1,500 visiting students studying key STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects at educational establishments throughout Wales and Cheshire today and tomorrow.

“I’m delighted to be here today at the Big Bang in Deeside,” said Welsh Government Economy Secretary Ken Skates. “It’s a fantastic interactive experience which will no doubt help to inspire the engineers and scientists of the future.

“Wales is home to around 150 component and systems manufacturing companies, which employ some 18,500 people within automotive manufacturing with an annual turnover of £3 billion. This is an excellent opportunity to get young people interested in the subjects they need to become a part of this dynamic sector in the future. It’s also a wonderful experience for Rheinallt to see his winning design on this new Toyota car!”

The competition was a joint initiative between the rally organisers, Toyota UK and the Engineering Education Scheme Wales (EESW) on behalf of the Welsh Government, and was open to all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in the region.