Talented racer Daniel Lloyd made his fifth podium visit of the 2008 Ginetta Junior season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent this afternoon, Saturday, 20th September, with an excellent second place finish during the penultimate race of the year.Lining up fourth on the grid after posting a best lap of 58.446 seconds (73.82mph) during this morning’s qualifying session, just a 10th of a second shy of pole position, Daniel made a good start to round 23 and ran side-by-side with third-placed starter Alice Powell through Paddock Hill Bend.As Powell passed Thomas Carnaby for second, so 16-year-old Daniel made his move too and slotted into third place behind Powell. Pressuring his former Tockwith Motorsport team-mate for the next couple of laps, the Huddersfield ace couldn’t quite find a way through before the Safety Car was deployed on lap four.When the race re-started on lap seven, Daniel made a good getaway and was almost glued to the tail of Powell’s car through Paddock Hill Bend. Carrying the momentum on the run up the incline to Druids, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship Winner took the inside line and emerged from the turn in second.Better was to follow when race leader, and pole-sitter, Dominic Pettit ran wide out of the hairpin and Daniel wasted no time in moving to the front. On lap eight at Paddock Hill Bend, however, Pettit managed to get the lead back with a good move.Although the race was scheduled to run over a distance of 14 laps, the chequered flag was shown at the end of the 11th tour due to a couple of cars being stranded in the gravel on the outside of Clearways after crashing out on lap 10.“I didn’t know if the win was on or not really when I got into the lead”, said Daniel, “I knew Dom (Pettit) was quick and he got a good run on me into Paddock Hill Bend, I made a mistake by going the wrong side to defend as I didn’t quite realise how close he was. He didn’t put a foot wrong after that so the gap stayed about the same really.“I’m over the moon with second place though from fourth on the grid. Alice (Powell) defended well early on but I managed to get by at Druids after the Safety Car period. I ran up the inside into the corner, Alice was in the middle and then Tom (Carnaby) went to the outside while (George) Richardson had a look as well!“We all went in there trying to get second place and thankfully I came out of the corner with it which was great. The car was good, I feel comfortable with the track this weekend and I’m sure we’ll be able to challenge at the front again in tomorrow’s race.”Posting the third fastest race lap of 58.636 seconds, Daniel actually ended today’s race just eight 10ths of a second behind Pettit with an almost identical gap behind to third placed Powell.Although Pettit, who is fifth in the championship, did gain a handful of points on Daniel by winning today’s encounter, the West Yorkshire star still holds a 30 point advantage over his rival on overall scores. When the four ‘drop scores’ are taken into account though, Daniel’s lead over Pettit is nine points.
Round 24, the final race of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship, will get underway at 12.25 tomorrow, Sunday, 21st September, and will be screened live on Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4. As for today’s race, Daniel will start tomorrow’s encounter from fourth place on the grid.Provisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd23):1st Dino Zamparelli, 595pts; 2nd Thomas Carnaby, 584pts; 4th Daniel Lloyd, 406ptsProvisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (inc. drop scores):1st Zamparelli, 585pts; 2nd Carnaby, 565pts; 4th Lloyd, 385pts
