Daniel Lloyd returned to his home circuit – and the scene of his maiden BTCC win – Croft circuit in North Yorkshire yesterday (12 April) to continue his pre-season testing programme with the Power Maxed Car Care Racing Team.
Back behind the wheel of the Vauxhall Astra for the third time to date, the Yorkshireman worked through a number of set-up changes, race and qualifying runs. Lloyd quickly got to grips once more and was soon setting competitive lap times, posting the 4th fastest lap of the day – alongside new team-mate and two-time British Touring Car Champion Jason Plato.
“Another positive day under our belts;” said Lloyd. “Both Jason and I were giving the same feedback on the car from the last test day, which is great from an engineer’s point of view. Yesterday was more of the same. Jason tried four different things as did I and by the end of the day, we were both saying that we wanted the same changes. That shows that we’re both heading in the same direction with the car.
“It’s great as we both have two very similar set-ups so if I try something and it’s better, Jason’s going to improve and vice versa. It’s a good solid foundation to have our two engineers working at the same goal instead of going off in different directions. From a team point of view and throughout the season that’s a huge positive. It’s really encouraging that we’re working together so well at the moment.
“It’s actually very surprising the difference coming back to the BTCC from the TCR. Even though they are both front-wheel touring cars it’s a big adaption – they’re completely different animals. The BTCC car has a lot more body roll and it takes a lot of getting used to. It moves around a hell of a lot more.
“They have completely different characteristics, so I feel like I’m just about getting on top of that now. Another task is to get the peak of the tyre when we do the qualifying runs. There’s definitely more work to do and more time to be found.
“Both of my sponsors ABRACS and Mend-A-Hose managed to come along for the day as well, which was great. They’re both local to the circuit so it was good to be able to invite them along to experience a test day and to see the team in action ahead of the new season starting.”
Yesterday’s positive developments mark the squad’s final preparations ahead of next week’s official BTCC season launch and test day at Silverstone. “Next week will be the first time that the full BTCC grid will all be on track together at the same time, so it will be a good benchmark to see where we are up against our competitors;” added Lloyd. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Things are really picking up in terms of new partners who are looking to come on board. The outlook is definitely much more positive, with companies looking at sponsorship. There’s huge interest around the BTCC this year, and we still have some great opportunities available for any company or brand looking to extend their reach and awareness.”
