Daniel Lloyd leads Meadows and Gelzinis into the complex
Porsche Scholarship winner Daniel Lloyd braved a still wet Thruxton on slick tyres, battling up to take his first Porsche Carrera Cup GB in the second race at the Hampshire speeddrome.
From pole Michael Meadows initially looked to have done enough to hold the lead but as the pack accelerated into Allard second placed starter – and the stand out performer of the day – Rory Butcher moved into the lead around the outside as Jonas Gelzinis briefly took second place after slight contact with Meadows before Lloyd moved ahead of both of them to secure second place.
Meadows remained close to Lloyd, both men driving without front splitters as they added to the debris on the wet track, Porsche splitters littering the track as one errant splitter begat another as drivers ran them over.
Despite the lack of splitter Lloyd was able to pull away from Meadows and pull back towards Butcher, who has enjoyed clear track as the rain began to fall once more, further complicating the race for the slick-shod drivers.
As in the first race of the day several drivers normally found towards the front of the Carrera Cup field struggled for pace. Most notable among these was Sam Tordoff, the Team Parker Racing driver struggling to keep pace with the battle for the ProAm1 podium between Oly Mortimer and Victor Jiminez.
From fourteenth sport Tordoff pitted, swapping to wet tyres in a gamble. The change made Tordoff the fastest man on track – setting the fastest lap of the race as he roared past those he had previously struggled to keep pace with. Tordoff's gamble would have paid off had the rain intensified to the point where the rest of the field needed to pit, but with at least some heat in the slick tyres they managed to continue, marooning Tordoff a lap down in twelfth at the end of the race.
Lloyd's chase to the pulled him to just two tenths back to start lap 18, pulling alongside down Woodham Hill searching for a way past Butcher on the outside. Under braking Butcher's car snapped sideways, spinning through the chicane and forcing Lloyd to cut through the corner.
Butcher spins sideways into the chicane, Lloyd evades to the outside while Glynn Geddie looks on (Photo Credit: Stuart Paice)
Avoiding both Butcher and the bales on the run off area Lloyd emerged in the lead, now with Glynn Geddie in second ahead of Butcher. British GT Champion Geddie had endured a difficult start to the season in his return to the Porsche Carrera Cup, but had come to life in the tricky conditions, fighting his way into the lead battle after starting eleventh. Geddie applied pressure on Lloyd through the closing laps of the scheduled 21, but was half a second short at the checkered flag.
Behind the podium finishers Meadows took fourth ahead of Ben Barker and Gelzinis. Ahmad Al–Harthy completed his perfect weekend in ProAm1, with Mortimer and Jiminez reprising their podium finishing positions from the earlier race.
Tania Mann – the sole ProAm2 runner – finished the race, picking up full points for the class championship.
