Daniel Lloyd made a sensational start to his debut year in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship during officially timed pre-season testing at Silverstone on Tuesday, 13th March - the Huddersfield racer posting the fourth quickest time to end the outing little more than 0.2 seconds shy of the pace.
Forming part of the championship's annual Media Day, yesterday's test on the Northamptonshire venue's 1.64-mile National Circuit is the only opportunity Daniel and his fellow competitors will have to gauge their respective performances ahead of the season-opening races at the end of March. It also marked the unveiling of his striking new car livery for the 2012 season.Completing 23 laps in the morning session, which took place in damp conditions, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar posted a best time of 56.039 seconds (105.38mph) to conclude the run third fastest and just 0.281 seconds away from the top of the timesheets.In the longer afternoon session, and with a dried-out track seeing a marked reduction in lap times, Daniel improved to a best time of 55.295 seconds (106.70mph) on lap 53 of 70 to end the day fourth fastest overall and the quickest category rookie.
"It was an absolutely mega day, awesome", said Daniel, "All of the media work in the morning, the tracking shots and everything, were great fun to be a part of and then when we got down to the actual testing everything went really well - to be fourth quickest is really good. I know I've got a lot to learn but the team has some great data for us to work from, it's been a fantastic day."Having competed in front-wheel drive cars throughout his career, the move into Porsche GB for 2012 means a change of driving style and approach for the Team Parker Racing star. On the evidence of yesterday's test though the Yorkshire Patron, who celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this month, has taken to the challenge like a duck to water.
"I've got two really quick team-mates (Richard Plant and Sam Tordoff) and I haven't been too far off them so far, so it's all looking really positive ahead of my first season in Porsche GB", he added, "I've had to change my driving style a lot, obviously switching from front-wheel drive, under-powered cars to the complete opposite this year. There are some fine tweaks to make but it's all looking good."For his first year in the high profile and ultra-competitive Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship, Daniel will be supported by TNT Post, TSD, Creechurch Private Wealth, Propack and TPA Yorkshire.
The talented racer, who will compete in aid of Huddersfield's Forget Me Not Children's Hospice this year, is also working to further increase his portfolio of sponsors to share in what promises to be an outstanding season with huge benefits for commercial partners.The opening two rounds of the 2012 season will take place over the weekend 31st March/1st April at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent.
