Daniel Lloyd saw hopes of a second podium finish in as many race meetings snatched from his grasp with just two laps to go during the ninth round of the Ginetta Junior Championship Saturday afternoon.

Taking place at the ultra-fast Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire, the quickest venue on the 2008 calendar, today’s nine-lap encounter saw 16-year-old Daniel race impressively from sixth on the grid to third position on the opening lap alone.Looking very comfortable, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship Winner was confident of challenging for the podium to put pressure on Josh Hill’s third place in the championship standings.On lap seven though, following a see-saw battle with Jake Farndon over the final rostrum position, Daniel was pitched into a spin through no fault of his own and the Tockwith Motorsport star had to battle back from seventh place, taking sixth on the last lap.All the more frustrating for Daniel was the fact he had just posted - at that point - a brand new lap record of 1m 36.297 seconds prior to the incident, underlining his pace. Nonetheless, the points for sixth position see him consolidate fourth in the title race on 161 points, just six shy of Hill in third.“I really thought we had a great chance to be on the podium again today”, said Daniel after the race, “Qualifying went well and everything felt good in the race. The car was a little bit of a handful through the fast turns but hopefully that will be better tomorrow and we’ll be able to finish in the top three.”Once again showing improvements in qualifying trim, Daniel produced a career best effort to take sixth on the grid for rounds nine and 10 – his best time of 1m 36.556 seconds (87.84mph) coming with his final effort of this morning’s 15-minute session.Although disappointed with today’s result considering what might have been, Daniel raced very well and can take a lot of positives from his first ever competitive outing at the super fast 2.35-mile Hampshire track.“I said before the weekend if I could be in the top eight during qualifying I’d be happy, it’s just a shame the way the race turned out in the end”, added Daniel, “I really think we had a great chance to be on the podium but it wasn’t to be. If I can make another good start to tomorrow’s race then I’m confident I’ve got the pace to challenge right at the front.”The 10th round of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship is scheduled to take place at approximately 12.55 tomorrow, Sunday, 18th May. Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4 will broadcast live from Thruxton this afternoon from 12.30 and it’s possible the Ginetta action will be screened as part of the programme.Provisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd9)1st Dino Zamparelli, 285pts; 2nd Thomas Carnaby, 202pts; 3rd Josh Hill, 167pts; 4th Daniel Lloyd, 161pts