Daniel Lloyd was left to wonder what might have been after a tough race day at Donington Park on his return to action in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
Huddersfield-race Daniel was making his return to the series after a year away having inked a deal to join the Restart Racing for 2025; a deal that saw him back behind the wheel of a race-winning package in the Hyundai i30 Fastback N.
On the back of an encouraging performance in pre-season testing at the East Midlands circuit prior to the first rounds of the campaign, Daniel headed into the weekend in confident mood and enjoyed a strong run through practice to display top ten pace going into qualifying.
Running in a strong Q1 group, Daniel successfully progressed to the second stage of qualifying and only missed out on the six-car battle for pole by 0.055s in a ridiculously close ten minute session.
Starting the opening race from the sixth row of the grid, Daniel was running twelfth in the early stages before being forced off the road at the final chicane – which ultimately saw him drop down outside the points.
Daniel was able to fight his way to twelfth place by the time the chequered flag dropped to open his account for the season.
A strong start to the second race saw Daniel fight his way up into ninth across the opening two laps before a hit from the Cupra of Dexter Patterson on lap three forced him off across the gravel – dropping the #123 Hyundai down to 17th.
Further contact then forced Daniel off across the grass on the exit of the final chicane, forcing him into retirement and putting him at the back of the grid for the weekend finale.
Despite lining up in 23rd place, Daniel had climbed into the points within two laps of the start to run in 14th spot, before losing ground when he was forced to take avoiding action to avoid Gordon Shedden when he had moment at the chicane.
Unfortunately for Daniel, that dropped him back into the rough and tumble of the midfield and having suffered multiple bouts of contact, his race would end up when he was forced off across the grass on the run up towards McLeans and was forced to park the car to prevent the engine from overheating.
“The weekend started quite well with the pace we showed in practice and qualifying, but unfortunately it went downhill from there,” he said. “That is how it can be in racing sometimes, but it was frustrating that it was through no fault of our own that we have come away from the weekend with two retirements when we know we have the pace to be right in the mix and pushing into the top ten at least.
“The team had done a fantastic job on the car across Saturday and by the end of qualifying, it was the best it had ever been, which left me feeling confident going into the races. Being forced off track was disappointing in the opener, but we managed to recover to P12 by the finish and I felt confident we could push into the top ten in race two.
“Sadly, other people had different ideas in the following races and I certainly didn’t have luck on my side. It’s a shame because there is a lot of potential in the car and plenty of positives, particularly when you consider how little running we had before the weekend.
“To be in the position we are in at this stage with the car gives me a lot of confidence for the rounds to come, even if the current results don’t reflect it. We just need to put this one behind us and focus on Brands Hatch.”
Daniel’s Donington Park weekend will be chronicled on his YouTube channel DLRTV on Tuesday at 6pm.
