Daniel Lloyd enjoyed a successful return to the podium on his strongest weekend of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB season to date at Silverstone, scoring an impressive second in the Pro Class in some of the most difficult on-track conditions seen this season.
Huddersfield racer Daniel was keen to try and return to form at the Home of British Motorsport after a difficult run of form at the wheel of his Toro Verde GT-run car, with qualifying dramas in recent rounds having hampered his chances of fighting towards the sharp end of the grid.
Pre-event testing around the short Silverstone National circuit showed how competitive the weekend would be as the top 20 drivers on the grid were covered by just half a second, making Saturday’s qualifying session more important that ever for Daniel in his quest to fight for silverware.
The session would be blighted by track limits dramas at turn one, with Daniel one of a number of drivers to have lap times removed. His fastest lap wasn’t amongst them however, which would leave him in twelfth place on the grid and tenth in class for the opening race.
Having performed particularly well in wet conditions this season, Daniel was one of the drivers who would be pleased to see the weather turn for race day, with the field lining up in wet conditions for the start of the opening race.
Maintaining position through the early stages, Daniel was soon into his groove and was consistently one of the quickest drivers on track as the race wore on and he started to work his way up the order.
A sixth place finish left him just shy of his best result of the season to date but left him well placed on the grid for race two where he lined up on the third row.
Whilst rain was no longer falling, circuit conditions remained tricky with drivers left with a decision to make on whether to stick with wet tyres or gamble on slicks, with Daniel one of those who made the call to remain on wet rubber.
It would prove to be an inspired call as Daniel rocketed away from the line to vault his way up into third spot as the field charged around Copse for the first time.
Displaying strong pace throughout in tricky conditions, Daniel took the flag in third place overall and second in the Pro Class for his first podium finish of the campaign, providing a welcome boost ahead of the season finale at Brands Hatch next month.
“I’m really happy with how the weekend panned out, and to be back on the podium is mega,” he said. “We’ve had good pace in the wet this season so I was one of the drivers who didn’t mind the rain arriving as I knew we’d strong, and that proved to be the case in what were pretty shocking conditions at times.
“Race one was all about staying on track early on and then as the field spread out a little and the amount of spray reduced so I could actually see, we were able to fight our way through into the top six. We just missed the reverse grid, but we made the right call on tyres for race two and the job was done at the start when we got up into the top three, and our pace from that point on was really good.
“There is no doubt that it’s been a tough season, so I have to give massive thanks to the team for continuing to push for the results we knew we were capable of, and also to my sponsors for their ongoing support.
“I had guests from DEVELOP, Technology Desking, Aqua Nero and First Locate there to cheer me on and they all had a fantastic day, particularly when I was able to share a podium with them. Hopefully we can run well again at Brands Hatch for the final meeting in a few weeks time.”
