Daniel Lloyd scored a podium in the second race of the day (Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography)
Team Parker Racing driver Daniel Lloyd left Donington Park and the second weekend of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB with a podium finish after an action packed meeting.
Lloyd, and teammates Sam Tordoff and Richard Plant were all fighting at the front of the Pro class in search of podiums throughout the weekend, however, each suffered setbacks in their searches, losing out in the close racing.
All three suffered during the opening race. While Tordoff and Plant kept pace with leader Michael Meadows from the start Lloyd was pushed wide exiting the first corner – Redgate. While correcting the initial slide and controlling the car across the dirt and the kerb Lloyd hit the car's pit limiter button, strangling the car's power for crucial seconds before the Porsche Scholarship winner could rectify the problem.
Two laps later Tordoff followed his teammate's unfortunate lead exiting the chicane when he missed a gear and tripped the pit limiter, dropping down to fifth, leaving Plant to take up second place and chase Meadows. Plant's chase, however, would end with a flat left-front tyre on his way to the Old Hairpin. The man you who won the season's first race at Brands Hatch managed to limp the no.5 car back to the pits for a new tyre but finished a lap down the lead group which consisted for four drivers, separated by only a second with Tordoff fourth behind rivals Jonas Gelzinis, Ben Barker and Michael Meadows.
“[Richard] was doing a great job in race one,” said team principal Stuart Parker. “catching Michael Meadows for the lead, so his puncture was really disappointing. We should have had a double podium in that race.”
Race two started brightly again for Tordoff and Plant – slotting into third and fourth respectively. The two swapped places when Tordoff ran wide at Coppice. Lloyd had taken up the unwanted role of chaser again after a slow start. After a brief battle with Ben Barker – which ended with Barker clouting the tyre barrier at Schwantz Curve – he closed on his teammates ahead.
Plant ran wide at Redgate and both Tordoff and Lloyd slipped by. Then at the start of the penultimate lap it was Tordoff's turn to run wide at the opening corne, Lloyd nipping by to steal the final spot on the rostrum behind Gelzinis and Meadows, who picked up a second win of the day.
“The last three laps of that second race – wow!” said Parker. “That was a nervous time. I think the best way to describe the weekend is frustrating. We had really strong pace, but unfortunately we didn't use it to our advantage. There were too many silly little things that went wrong and we didn't get the results our speed deserved.”
Tordoff's two fourth places at Donington Park – to add to his identical finishes at Brands Hatch – make him the best of Team Parker's Pro drivers in the points in third behind Meadows and Gelzinis, but ahead of Plant, hampered by his race one puncture.
