Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar Daniel Lloyd gave his 2013 title bid the kick-start it needed during the third event of the season at Thruxton on Sunday, 5th May, by racing to his first victory of the year in round five before backing the result up with a consistently strong second place in round six.Easily his most impressive weekend of the campaign so far, the Huddersfield driver once again conquered the UKs most fearsome race track almost exactly one year on from claiming his first ever Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship win at the 2.35-mile Hampshire venue.Unlike the rain-affected outing in 2012, this weekends races took place under bright skies and in warm conditions and after qualifying on the front row of the grid for each encounter the 21-year-old was determined to secure a brace of podiums. In doing so, Daniel has rocketed up the championship standings from seventh place into the top four.Making a blistering start to Sunday mornings fifth round, the Team Parker Racing driver instantly moved ahead of pole-sitter Michael Meadows on the outside line through Allard and scorched into a 1.2 second lead on the first lap alone.Knowing the importance of conserving his Michelin tyres as much as possible, with the high-speed nature of Thruxton notorious for causing punctures, Daniel struck the fine balance of not taking too much out of them while continuing to maintain strong pace at the front.
Despite an early threat from Jonas Gelzinis and then a challenge from Rory Butcher, the latter running on brand new tyres, Daniel didnt put a wheel wrong with an inch-perfect performance. Just after mid-distance, with Butcher having asked too much of his Michelins, Daniel increased his lead once again and he went on to win by 2.3 seconds thanks to a faultless drive.
The start was the main focus, we knew if Michael [Meadows] got ahead it would be really hard to try and get in front of him so I put everything into making a great start and it paid off, explained the West Yorkshireman.For the first few laps I did struggle, I had quite bad understeer so just tried to maintain the lead and do whatever I could. Through the middle of the race though, as the rear tyres got worse, the car became more balanced and it was absolutely mega then. I just tried to be consistent after that to bring it home. It really is fantastic to be back on the top step of the podium, especially at Thruxton.Lining-up second on the grid again for round six, Daniel got away cleanly from the line but Meadows managed to convert his pole position into the lead. Running in second place throughout, Daniel took the chequered flag little more than a second behind Meadows to cap an outstanding weekend.Porsche Carrera Cup GB now takes a five week break from action with rounds seven and eight of the season taking place on 8th/9th June at Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire.
