Daniel Lloyd’s strong return to the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship grid continued over the weekend, with the Huddersfield-based racer securing a further three points-scoring results during the second meeting of the season on the Snetterton 300 circuit (12-13 June).
Despite wrestling with balance issues on the Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing Astra all weekend, a sterling effort and performance from the 29-year-old enabled him to lock down a place in the new ‘top ten showdown’ qualifying format on Saturday afternoon – clinching a P8 start for the opening race.
Running on the soft ‘option’ tyre for the first 12-lap contest on Sunday, the Yorkshireman battled hard to keep on top of the stability difficulties in the Astra, with tyre choice helping to play its part in keeping him at the front of the pack. Moving up to 6th in the opening laps, Lloyd made a bold move to challenge for fifth place. Unfortunately, the effort didn’t pay off; however, he did manage to improve his starting position to take P7 at the chequered flag.
As the #123 crew grappled with set-up changes to try and improve the performance of the car throughout the next two races, Lloyd worked hard to overcome the challenges on track – managing to remain in the points-scoring zone, taking P12 in both rounds to add to his existing championship points tally.
Daniel Lloyd #123: “We struggled all weekend with balance issues. We had a really bad snap oversteer in the car and it was something that we were working on right from FP1 to race three. We got away with it in race one because of the soft tyre – which worked for a bit and changed the balance of the car – but as soon as we went back to the medium tyre we were back in the same place.
“We made a big change for the last race and managed to fix the issue, but it takes a few laps at the start of the race to work out how the car has changed and is performing. By the time I had the confidence in knowing when to push, we didn’t have enough time to move up through the field. I went from a car that was so lively at the rear to one that was super stable and had to completely change my driving style.
“Although it was a frustrating weekend in some respects, we figured out what the issue was and it was sorted. It was definitely a weekend of what could have been. I think if we’d fixed the issue sooner we would have been on for three top-ten finishes for sure.
“Looking at the positives, it was a step forward from Thruxton, I was much more on top of the car and I felt a lot more confident with it. We just needed to solve this balance issue sooner in the weekend, but the most important thing is that we’ve learnt from it. We scored points in all three races. It wasn’t the dream weekend, but I still feel positive for the next meeting at Brands Hatch in two weeks.”
“It was great to see the fans back trackside this weekend. It made such a difference having their support again after such a long time, and definitely gave everyone a little lift.”
The triple score results from the weekend have helped to move Lloyd up to 6th in the Independents standings, with the Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing Team still leading the Independent Teams’ championship ahead of the third meeting of the season at Brands Hatch on 26-27 June.
