Daniel Lloyd endured a tough weekend at the Circuit De Barcelona Catalunya for rounds 7 & 8 of the TCR Europe Series, with weight penalties and racing incidents derailing his championship lead (9-11 October).
The 28-year-old headed to Spain with a 32-point lead at the top of the standings, having already tallied up a race win and two podiums in the first three meetings of the year. Unfortunately, with the #123 Brutal Fish Racing Honda Civic Type R laden with the full 60kg of ballast – by way of the 2020 balance of performance rules – Lloyd’s weekend was subsequently marred by a lack of pace which left him unable to challenge for points.
Despite being just 9-tenths off the pole lap in qualifying, P13 was the best position that the Yorkshireman could manage for the opening race, leaving him with a huge task ahead for the two 12-lap sprint races.
Placing 16th in the opening race, Lloyd battled back into the points to take P9 at the flag in race two. Regrettably, however, he was hit with a 10-second penalty for an incident with Mat’o Homola which dropped him back to 16th in the final results.
“A horrendous weekend in all honesty;” commented Lloyd. “We had no pace whatsoever all weekend. Qualifying so far back just killed our hopes with the 60kg on-board. It was just unlucky that we had to carry the ballast at a track where the times are so close.
“I feel that the penalty in race 2 was harsh, and that resulted in no points scored over the weekend. I’ve gone from 1st to 4th in the Championship. In spite of this, I’m actually feeling positive. We head to Spa next, with no weight this time. We’ll be fighting hard to get back to the top of the standings.”
The TCR Europe series reconvenes at the world-famous Spa Francorchamps in Belgium for the penultimate round of the season on October 22-24. Lloyd currently lies 4th in the Championship standings, 25 points off the current leader.
