Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup

TOUGH HOMECOMING FOR LLOYD WITH EIGHTH PLACE AT BRANDS Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup racer Daniel Lloyd's hopes of a home victory at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit were dashed on Saturday, 3rd September, when a tough weekend at the Kent track ended with an eighth place finish in round seven of the season.Although bitterly disappointed not to have been able to fight for the win at the sole UK round of the pan-European series, the Huddersfield 19-year-old still raced hard and managed to salvage a decent haul of points from the re-started encounter to maintain a top three championship placing.Daniel's problems started in qualifying when a decision to gamble on the track getting progressively quicker as the session wore on failed to pay off. Electing to sit-out the first 10 minutes in the belief the fastest times would come towards the conclusion, instead he had to settle for eighth on the grid.Making a good getaway and climbing into fifth place on the first lap, the West Yorkshireman avoided an incident at Graham Hill Bend which resulted in a red flag stoppage and a lengthy delay before the decision to resume the race was made.Re-starting behind the Safety Car, racing proper resumed after a single lap at cautionary speed with Daniel maintaining fifth position. As he turned in to Graham Hill Bend though, the back of his car snapped away - most likely as a result of the rear tyres not being sufficiently up to temperature - but he showed tremendous skill and car control to save a huge moment and recover in eighth place.Holding the position to the chequered flag on lap 20, Daniel crossed the finish line highly disappointed to have missed out on the chance of a podium in front of the British crowd but knowing the points for eighth place could be crucial come the end of the season."It started with the mistake to go out later in qualifying", said Daniel, "We sat in the pits for the first 10 minutes expecting the track to be quicker at the end but it turned out that the fastest times were set at the start so we missed the track at its best - that meant there was a very mixed-up grid."I had a really good first lap, got up into fifth, but then the race was red flagged after a few cars came together. We sat for a long time so lost all of the temperature from the tyres and then on the first lap of the re-start, at Graham Hill Bend, the back end got away - I think it was just the rear tyres being too cold. It was a huge moment but I managed to recover in eighth and stayed there to the end."He added: "It's been a really disappointing weekend as I came here wanting to win my home race, or be on the podium at the very least. I know it could have been worse, at least we have taken some points away, but I am really gutted. I do want to thank all of the guests and sponsors who came along this weekend to support me though, without them I wouldn't be racing - their support was fantastic."Daniel returns to action just a fortnight from now over the weekend 17th/18th September for the penultimate event of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup season, the second double-header of the year, which will take place at Oschersleben in Germany. In the meantime, replays of this weekend's racing at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit will be screened on digital satellite and cable channel Motors TV throughout the coming days and weeks - please check motorstv.com   for listings and full details.Provisional 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup Driver Standings (after Rd7):1st Mateusz Lisowski, 288pts; 2nd Ola Nilsson, 247pts; 3rd Daniel Lloyd, 229pts

Related Motorsport Articles

84,521 articles