LLOYD MOUNTS STIRRING RECOVERY DURING ROBUST AUSTRIAN VW RACESVolkswagen Scirocco R-Cup front-runner Daniel Lloyd mounted a pair of sensational recovery drives at the Red Bull Ring in Austria over the weekend, 4th/5th June - minimising the damage to his points tally after being shunted off the circuit in rounds two and three of the 2011 season.Marking the 19-year-old's maiden experience of the 4.3-kilometre (2.67-mile) Spielberg track, Daniel displayed fantastic pace from the off and had a realistic opportunity to challenge for the podium in both encounters. Leading the half-hour practice session on Friday, 3rd June, with a best time of 1m54.044 seconds, the Huddersfield racer went on to qualify fourth on the grid for the half-points scoring second round with a lap of 1m49.274 seconds during Saturday's session.Wet conditions greeted the competitors for the opening race of the weekend and Daniel made a superb start, surging into second place and looking very well placed for a podium at least. That was before he was knocked off the track at the first corner though - Indian racer Aditya Patel misjudging his braking and tagging the rear of Daniel's car.Dropping outside the top 20, the category rookie sliced his way through the order and managed to climb back into 13th position before the finish. He also posted the fastest lap of the race to confirm his true pace.Unbelievably, lightning struck twice for Daniel in Sunday afternoon's third round - the first full points scoring event of the season - when yet more contact ruined his hopes of a podium bid. Starting 13th on the grid, by virtue of his finishing position from the first encounter, Daniel got away from the line very well indeed but the rear of his car was hit as he negotiated turn one. Luckily avoiding a spin, the delay still cost Daniel a huge number of places as he slipped to 20th and faced another mountain to climb. He again recovered fantastically though, climbing back into the top eight by the finish. Despite losing out on a huge number of points through no fault of his own, Daniel remains in the thick of the championship battle in eighth place - just under 50 points shy of the lead."I'm really disappointed how things turned out this weekend", said the British star, "Worst case scenario we should have been third on Saturday and able to fight for another podium in race two but it just wasn't to be. I got knocked off in the first race when running second and I couldn't believe it when I got smacked from behind in race two!"It's not the end of the world but it has had a big impact on our points. This is a short championship, only 10 races, and with the first two rounds scoring only half points it's not been a benefit to me. We showed really good pace again though this weekend and I loved the track - it's absolutely mint!"There are just two weeks to wait until the fourth round of the 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup which will take place on Saturday, 18th June, at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany.Provisional 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup Driver Standings (after Rd3):1st Mateusz Lisowski, 108pts; 8th Daniel Lloyd, 59pts